Correlates of victim services for fraud and identity theft among victim service providers

Abstract

Victim service providers assist thousands of victims of crime in the United States each year. However, little is known about the extent to which these organizations serve victims of crime often perpetrated online, such as identity theft and financial fraud. Moreover, absent from the literature is an empirical assessment of what factors predict the inclusion of services for victims of these crimes. Using a sample from the 2019 National Survey of Victim Service Providers (n = 1649) the current study investigated factors related to the provision of services for victims of financial fraud and identity theft, and the number of victims served for each of these crime types. Findings suggested that certain organizational services such as providing restitution claim assistance and document replacement services were associated with greater odds providing services to financial fraud and identity theft victims. Organizational characteristics, such as having a hotline/chatline, the number of external partnerships, and the number of volunteers also predicted providing those services. The findings suggest the importance of logistical constraints on providing these services and are discussed in light of previous research on the topic, as well as policy implications and limitations.