Doha Declaration

Education for Justice

The Dark Figure of Online Property Crime: Is Cyberspace Hiding a Crime Wave?

Full title in original language:

The Dark Figure of Online Property Crime: Is Cyberspace Hiding a Crime Wave?

Education level:

University

University (18+ years)

Topic / subtopic:

Cybercrime

Cybercrime investigation

General types of cybercrime

Target audience:

Students, Teachers / Lecturers

Type of resource:

Publication / Article

Languages:

English

Region of relevance:

Global

Access:

restricted access: requiring payment

Individual authors:

Maria Tcherni, Andrew Davies, Giza Lopes, Alan Lizotte

Publication year:

2016

Published by:

Justice Quarterly

Copyright holder:

Contact name and address:

Justice Quarterly

Contact website:

https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjqy20/current

Key themes:

Links:

Publication

Short description:

A pronounced drop in crime, since the early 1990s, has encompassed every crime category tracked by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, including property crime. However, over the same period, the rates of online property crime (OPC) have been on the rise according to available evidence. The authors delineate the extent of our knowledge and data concerning cybercrime and identity theft and, using data from several nationally representative victimization surveys, offer an alternative view of property crime trends while pointing out the glaring gap in crime reporting and accounting in relation to the growing category of property crimes perpetrated online. In addition, they compare estimated costs of traditional property crime vs. OPC. Finally, the authors identify the main challenges for obtaining reliable data on OPC and discuss their implications, especially when applying the traditional methods of compiling crime statistics.

Short description:

A pronounced drop in crime, since the early 1990s, has encompassed every crime category tracked by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, including property crime. However, over the same period, the rates of online property crime (OPC) have been on the rise according to available evidence. The authors delineate the extent of our knowledge and data concerning cybercrime and identity theft and, using data from several nationally representative victimization surveys, offer an alternative view of property crime trends while pointing out the glaring gap in crime reporting and accounting in relation to the growing category of property crimes perpetrated online. In addition, they compare estimated costs of traditional property crime vs. OPC. Finally, the authors identify the main challenges for obtaining reliable data on OPC and discuss their implications, especially when applying the traditional methods of compiling crime statistics.

Doha Declaration

Education for Justice

Supported by the State of Qatar

60 years Crime Congress