Everyone is victimized or only the naïve? The conflicting discourses surrounding identity theft victimization

Abstract

Identity theft impacts millions of North Americans annually and has increased over the last decade. Victims of identity theft can face various consequences, including losses of time and money, as well as emotional, physical, and relational effects. Scholars have found that institutional messaging surrounding identity theft places responsibility on individuals for their own protection, which can mask institutions’ roles in identity theft’s prevalence. This paper presents findings from interviews with Canadian victims of identity theft and argues that conflicting discourses surround this crime. While identity theft victimizations are viewed as inevitable in the digital age, victims are often simultaneously stereotyped as old, naïve, or non-technologically savvy. Within this context, this research also finds that victims can express varying degrees of self-blame for having provided perpetrators with information or for having not better protected themselves. Finally, this paper argues that victims’ embarrassment and self-blame may impede help-seeking and reporting.