Examining the perceptual and behavioral effects of mobile internet fraud: A social network approach

Informed by the growing third-person effect research of social and online media, the present study examines the perceived negative impact of increasing mobile Internet fraud on user’s social ties and their likely response to cope with the rising fraud. A probability sample of 816 respondents in China was used in collecting data regarding the beliefs of their own and other’s vulnerability to fraud online. Key findings show that their negative perceptions of mobile Internet fraud vary significantly by the strength of their social relationships and network homogeneity—the closer the ties, the greater perceived vulnerability to mobile Internet fraud; the more homogenous their social networks, the more pronounced the pattern. In addition, awareness of the fraud was found to enhance the self-other perceptual gap. Finally, the perceived negative impact of the fraud on self leads to protective actions in terms of verifying suspicious messages. On the other hand, the negatively perceived impact on weak ties is related to staying alert and reducing the use of mobile Internet, suggesting that respondents viewed fraud victims in their social network as warnings.