Preventive counselling against online fraud: Does this work?

This paper aims to highlight the importance of preventive approaches in response to the rapid growth of online fraud, extending the existing victim-centred perspective to include non-face-to-face preventive interventions aimed at people at risk of crime before they become victims of crime. We classify and conceptualise the effectiveness of such approaches into two categories: direct effectiveness in preventing crime, and indirect effectiveness in generating a positive feedback loop that can make people more willing to engage with the police in the future. In order to evaluate the above, we collected relevant data on the online preventive counselling service operated by the National Police in South Korea as a case study. Through this study, we estimated the actual crime prevention effects as 3.35% of the victimisation rate in the general public dropping to 1% in the case of the counselled group and found the positive signal of providing a satisfactory policing experience through equal service to the elderly without discrimination in accessibility by age, and they are willing to use this preventive policing intervention serviced if police shows effective and clear counselling attitudes. In conclusion, this research has found a rather positive outlook on the multifaceted effectiveness of preventive intervention targeting people exposed to crime before they become victims against online fraud through the use of technology. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2025.