THE ROLE OF ONLINE COMMUNITIES IN PROTECTING AGAINST DIGITAL FRAUD
Authors:   Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, MARTYNOVA S.E. , TUMANIAN G.V. ,   Lomonosov Moscow State University
Published: December 2024

Scholarly reflection of the phenomenon of digital fraud is a new direction of research. The focus is mainly on the classification of types of fraud and the characteristics of algorithmic methods of protection against it. In the scholarly discourse, issues of preventing fraudulent actions with the help of social technologies are raised mainly from the perspective that society is the object of attitude development and educational influence. The article presents an examination of social protection against fraud from the standpoint of the characteristics of modern society as knowledge-based, creative, and networked. The aim of the empirical study is to identify fraud protection mechanisms developed by participants in the Russian Internet community and, in general, the functions of communities in minimizing cases of fraud and its consequences. The research method is quantitative and qualitative content analysis of forums on websites and communities on social networks. Eight forums and six communities were selected for analysis. Since communities do not have the power to punish perpetrators or return money to victims, the focus is on preventive action. The categories of analysis under which semantic units are subsumed are the following: type of preventive protective actions, list of actions, effectiveness of actions. The empirical study was conducted in November 2022 - January 2023. The search depth is limited to five years: 2017-2022. In accordance with the aim of the study, the following results were achieved: anti-fraud protection mechanisms developed by participants in the Russian Internet community were identified and typologized. The typology of preventive measures includes four categories: technical actions, awareness-raising, behavioral, and analytical. The functions of communities to minimize cases of deception and its consequences are also identified, typologized, and characterized. These functions are educational, revealing, accusatory, advisory, and psychological. These results can be considered as the authors’ theoretical contribution to the development of the topic, since previously only classifications of types of fraud and methods of protection related primarily to the technical side were presented. Taking into account the results of the study, the fundamental theoretical principles related to the topic of protection against digital fraud include types of fraud, types of protection, and the functions of online communities in this regard. This theoretical contribution of the authors can serve as the basis for further discussions regarding the terminological designation of categories and their grouping, as well as for research on a deeper disclosure of the mechanisms for implementing protective measures and the functions of communities. In addition, the developed typologies make it possible to conduct country-by-country comparative studies using ordered parameters. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.