E-COMMERCE FRAUD: EFFECTS OF ONLINE SELLING EXPERIENCES TO

THE VICTIMS

A Group Research

Presented to the Faculty of the

Graduate School

University of the Cordilleras

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Subject

Economic Crimes

by

Shannia Brineth Balisong Bandao

Keziah Nicole Fernandez

Norvelita Aguilan Logronio

March 27, 2021

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3835781

ABSTRACT

Internet technology has been adopted for multiple applications like e-government,

e-learning, and e-commerce. It founds out that e-commerce provides advantages. For

instance, flexibility and efficiency are some which can be achieved by e-commerce.

However, this has disadvantages such as frauds that remains a serious threat globally.

E-commerce or online selling is not only limited to the selling and purchasing of a

physical product online but it also includes the sale and purchase of non-physical goods,

such as services and digital products. It is during this transaction that the seller and

customer experienced being victimized.

The goal of this study is to determine the effects of online selling experiences to

the victims either the customer or seller. The researchers have found that the effect of

online selling experiences to the victim, aside from the stress that they suffer, is

categorized into two: the financial and social impact. The financial impact refers to the

money that is lost as a result of bad online selling experience. Conversely, the social

impact talks about the behavior of the buyer that affects to buy products online. Through

these bad experiences, the consumer becomes more vigilant as they thoroughly check the

product first, while taking into consideration other consumers’ feedback before doing

actual shopping.

Keywords: Online selling, customer, seller, fraud.

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 INTRODUCTION
Since its transition into a global interconnection network for sharing and
delivering information, internet has emerged as a useful marketing tool to serve as a
platform for domestic and international transaction. Online shopping is the easy solution
for busy life in today’s world. In the past decade, there had been a massive change in the
way of customer’s shopping especially in this time of pandemic. Despite consumers’
continuation to buy from a physical store, it becomes very convenient for them to shop
online. Online shopping saves crucial time for modern people, because they get so busy
that they cannot or they are unwilling to spend much time shopping physically.
This new innovation for shopping not only brings a great number and variety of
merchandise to potential consumers, but also offers numerous business activities and
huge market. Social media is no longer known only as a platform that facilitates its users
to present themselves on the internet, but also as a platform to sell some products to
consumers known as an online shop. Because of the countless advantages and benefits,
more people say that they prefer online shopping over conventional shopping these days
(Singh & Kashyap, 2007). Unlike a physical store, all the goods in online stores are
described through text, with photos, and with multimedia files. Many online stores will
provide links for much extra information about their product. On the other hand, some
online consumers are adventurous explorers, fun seekers, and shopaholics. However,
some are technology muddler where they hate waiting for their product to ship.
Consequently, online consumer behavior (user action during searching, buying, using
products, i.e.) became a contemporary research area for an increasing number of
researchers to understand this unique nature of online shopping. The primary goal of a
business is to offer product and services that best serve their consumer needs. A business
which satisfies their customers’ needs fully is more successful than its competitors as
satisfied buyers tend to make a repetitive purchase.
Asia Pacific region is leading the growth of online shopping as compared to the
mature market such as the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and European
countries. The Asia Pacific recorded massive growth, especially in China. In 2016, Asia
Pacific region made about one (1) trillion dollars in online sales and majority came from
China constituting about eight hundred ninety-nine (899) billion dollars

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(eMarketer, 2016). With more and more consumers becoming increasingly familiar with
the Internet and its benefit, online shopping is becoming popular and getting preference
among a group of consumers seeking better value proposition regarding information,
convenience, cost, choice.
Filipinos have the distinction of having one of the highest internet penetrations in
the region, and being the most active on social media. More than seventy-three (73)
million Filipinos are registered internet users and ninety-nine percent (99%) of them are
active on one social media platform or another. The average Filipino spends a whopping
nine hours and forty-five (45) minutes online daily, three (3) hours and fifty-three (53)
minutes of which is spent browsing social media sites.
According to Campos, as many as ninety-one percent (91%) of Filipino internet
users have searched for goods and services to purchase during the quarantine period, and
of all those who searched, seventy-six (76%) consummated the transaction. This is a clear
indication that Filipinos are finally warming-up to e-commerce. From a sales turnover of
five hundred (500) million dollars in 2015, e-commerce in the Philippines is seen to top
twelve (12) billion dollars by the year 2025. It already realized three (3) billion dollars in
2019. In the first six (6) months of 2020, growth has already doubled in terms of number
of buyers and the peso value of purchases as compared to 2019.
In terms of demographics, seventy-two percent (72%) of Filipino online shoppers
are female while twenty-eight percent (28%) are male. Age-wise, forty-five percent
(45%) are between twenty-five (25) to thirty-five (35) years old, twenty-two percent
(22%) are between eighteen (18) to twenty-four (24) years old, sixteen percent (16%) are
between thirty-five (35) to forty-four (44) years old, and seventeen percent (17%) are
forty-five (45) years old or older. Geographically, thirty-eight percent (38%) of all e-
commerce transaction occur in Metro Manila, nine percent (9%) in Cavite and Laguna,
six percent (6%) in Cebu, six (6%) in Pampanga and Bulacan, three percent (3%) in
Davao, three percent (3%) in Rizal, two percent (2%) in Iloilo, and two percent (2%) in
Batangas. The rest of the regions are too small to be categorized.
Cash on delivery is still the preferred mode of payment comprising sixty-seven
percent (67%) of all transactions. This is followed by credit cards at twenty-four percent
(24%). Paypal has a five percent (5%) share of payment transactions while G-Cash has a

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two percent (2%) share. A massive seventy-nine percent (79%) of all e-commerce
transactions are consummated over the smartphone.
There is no doubt that the retail business will take a new shape in the post-COVID
world. We already see it, dining in restaurants, shopping in stores, and wandering in
malls are practices we try to avoid for fear of being infected. People are beginning to
discover that working and playing at home have its unique merits. As seen with the
statistics above, Filipinos are becoming more comfortable with buying goods and
services online.
The increasing number and organizations are paving the way for business
opportunities on the Internet, according to Liao & Cheung (2001), the statistics above
indicate the growth in the field of internet shopping. With this developing field of
shopping, many researchers are interested in studying what actually motivates consumers
to shop online. Consumers acknowledge the need for buying some products. They usually
will look up to the internet to shop online and start to search for the information about the
things that they will buy, and look for all the alternatives and finally make a purchase
which is the best price to their needs (Rangampet, 2015). Before making a final purchase,
consumers are influenced by several factors which limit them before making the final
decision as advertising and language.
According to Holmes (2008), advertising means “The activity of attracting public
attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or
electronic media. Advertising means promotion of the product, idea, or organization on
the small or big market with the purpose to give information and to make people believe
the advantage of the product and convince them to take and action. Aside from
advertising, language also became a factor which limits consumers making the final
decision especially the English language. English language dominates the world as a
global language that is used by many people in many countries.
Online shopping or marketing via internet is the use of technology (computer) for
better marketing production. Over, these past years e-commerce has developed very fast
because of many advantages related to buying in the internet because of easier transaction
and lower cost as compared to other types of shopping. Through online shopping

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everyone can buy faster, have more alternatives and can order various products or
services with lower price (Cuneyt Koyuncu; Gautam Bhattacharya, 2017).
Literature Review
Online shopping indicates electronic commerce to buy products or services
directly from the seller through the Internet. Internet-based or Click and Order business
model has replaced the traditional Brick and Mortar business model. More people than
before are using the web to shop for a wide variety of items, from house to shoes to
airplane tickets. Now people have multiple options to choose their products and services
while they are shopping through an online platform.
Online shopping has unique characteristics. Huseynov and Yıldırım, (2014)
emphasized that the lack of physical interaction tends to be the critical impediment in
online retail sales followed by the privacy of individual information and security of
financial transactions over the Internet. Demangeot and Broderick (2010) also revealed
that perceived ease of use does not affect the behavioral pattern in this case rather
influenced by security and privacy issues. No relationship is built between the customer
and the online shop in the presence of perceived online risk even if a customer spent
hours on the Internet (Zuroni & Goh, (2012).
Day-by-day taste, preference and choices are varying regarding different factors
such as the Internet emergence. However, this development needs some more
understanding related to the consumer’s behavior. Consumer behavior research identifies
a general model of buying behavior that depicts the processes used by consumers in
making a purchase decision (Vrender, 2016). Those designs are paramount to the
marketer as they can explain and predict consumer purchase behavior.
Jarvenpaa, Todd, Jarvenpaa, and Todd (1997), proposed a model of attitude,
behavior, and shopping intention towards Internet shopping in general. The design
includes several indicators classified into four broad categories like product value, quality
services offered through the website, the shopping experience, and the risk perception of
the online shopping. Chang, Cheung, and Lai (2005), studied categories of variables
which drove people to online shopping activities. In their study, they divided the features
into three broad categories. Perceived characteristics of the web sale channel are the first
one which includes risk, online shopping experiences, advantage, service quality, trust.

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The second category is a website and product features which are risk reduction measures,
site features, and product characteristics; and the last group is consumer characteristics.
Various types of features, demographic variables, consumer shopping orientations,
consumer innovativeness and psychological variables, computer, Internet knowledge, and
usages drives consumer characteristics.
Consumer attitudes toward online shopping usually been determined by two
factors; one is trust, and another is perceived benefits (Hoque, Ali, & Mahfuz, 2015).
Therefore, trust and perceived benefits seem to be the critical conjectures of consumer
behavior toward online shopping (Al-Debei, Akroush, & Ashouri, 2015; Hajli, 2014).
Moreover, information quality, merchandise attribute, website design, transaction
capability, payment, security or privacy, delivery, self-consciousness, state of mind, the
consumer’s time sense and customer service are strongly predictive of online shopping
satisfaction (Katawetawaraks & Wang, 2011).
Purchase quality are statistically significant in the case of customer satisfaction
(Vegiayan, Ming, & Harun, 2013). However, brand image and quality of products,
goodwill of country of origin also influence significantly on purchase intention of online
products (Haque, 2015). Moreover, online data extraction about the products, services
along with the historical data for individual customers is ingredient element to choose an
online store or make re-purchase decision (Liao, Chu, Chen, & Chang, 2012).
(Koufaris, 2002) identified that both shopping enjoyment and perceived
usefulness (website) strongly predict the intention to re-purchase over online. On the
contrary, Lee and Lin (2005) found shopping enjoyment can increase the intent of new
customers but does not influence customers to return. In fact, the web store which utilizes
value-added mechanisms in the search engine and providing customers a challenging
experience may increase customers’ shopping enjoyment. Furthermore, if there are more
often customers back to the web store, their shopping enjoyment then be determined by
their involvement with the product (Marios Koufaris, Kambil, & LaBarbera, 2001).
Also, demographic variables such as age, gender, and level of income play a
facilitating role because they influence consumer perception and consumer behavior that
drives them towards online shopping (Sabbir Rahman, 2012). In China, online shopping
intention depends on consumers’ age, income, and education as well as marital status

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most importantly their perceived usefulness (Gong, Stump, & Maddox, 2013). For more
succinct understanding,
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
This study is based on the Routine Activity Theory developed by Cohen and
Felson (1979). In this theory, the presumption is that victimization is caused by the
opportunity for crime commission due to the patterns or routines, or even lifestyles in
society. The activity pattern of a particular subject; encourages criminals to commit
crimes especially when the opportunity presents it. Three elements come with Routine
Activity Theory, and they include motivated offenders, suitable targets, and the lack of
guardianship when a violation is committed. Like any other criminal act, the absence of
one of these elements prevents crime, however, when all are present the crime occurs,
making victimization present as well. (Meier & Miethe, 2009)
With the times, online selling has been a very easy target for crime commission.
Not only are the buyers susceptible for victimization, the sellers as well. When we try to
explain the victimization of those involved in online selling or e-commerce with Routine
Activity Theory, we understand then that the process of buying and selling becomes a
pattern. This pattern is used by criminal minds in committing the crimes they have in
mind.
In addition, the use of cyberspace attracts offender to alluring targets. With the
pandemic situation today, it is only normal now for the community to be indulged by
technology. More and more have been online recently, doing different activities in
cyberspace, making them vulnerable to crime as it is only plausible that offenders will be
involved with technology as well. With the number of people using this, more and more
of the community fall victim to crimes online, like e-commerce fraud as. Even with very
far proximity, people would still be victimized because of the many techniques that
offenders use in crime commission (Meier & Miethe, 2009).
Figure 1 presents the paradigm of the study. As shown in the figure are the factors,
cyberspace, customer, seller, victimization, effects and coping mechanism.
The cyberspace is the medium used in online selling. It is accessed both by the
customer and seller and is influenced by many factors. The customer accesses the
cyberspace to find goods that he or she wants to purchase while the sellers use it to

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advertise and sell goods. The use of cyberspace opens up opportunity for offenders that
may lead to victimization of either the customer or seller; this produces the effects to both.
The offender may come from the seller or the customer or it may be a third person
victimizing either of them. The coping mechanism is how the victim will deal with the
effects towards victimization.
Paradigm Of The Study
The paradigm of the study includes the factors that lead to online selling
victimization of both online consumers and online sellers. The experiences of these
victims are what the researchers would like to account for. It would include the effects of
online selling victimization to these people, and the different coping mechanisms they
portrayed after being victimized.

FACTORS

CYBERSPACE
CUSTOMER (ONLINE SELLER
SELLING)

VICTIMIZATION

EFFECTS

COPING
MECHANISM
Figure 1. PARADIGM OF THE STUDY

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Objectives of the Study
The research was designed to determine the effects of online selling experiences
to the victims either the customer or seller.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1. What are the factors that induce customer and sellers in partaking in online selling
or e-commerce?
2. What are the effects of online selling experiences to the victim?
3. What are the coping mechanisms of the victims in dealing with their victimization?

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 METHODOLOGY
This study employed qualitative research method using phenomenology design.
Phenomenology is an approach to qualitative research that focuses on the commonality
of a lived experience within a particular group. The fundamental goal of the approach is
to arrive at a description of the nature of the particular phenomenon (Creswell, 2013).
In this study, the focus would be the effects of online selling experiences to the victims.
Under the phenomenological inquiry, research is posited as phenomenon. This is the most
basic philosophical assumption that one can only know what others experience by
attending to others’ perceptions on a certain phenomenon. Pure phenomenological
research seeks essentially to describe rather than explain, and to start from a perspective
free from hypotheses or preconceptions (Husserl, 1970). This research method is
particularly effective at bringing to the fore the experiences and perceptions of
individuals from their own perspectives, and therefore at challenging structural or
normative assumptions.
Data Gathering Tool
In data gathering, the researchers will utilize a Semi-structured interview as a
research tool to interview the participant and to follow-up probing to elaborate the
participants’ response.
The interview guide has two levels, the general information and specific questions.
The general information question contains the questions about gender, age civil status
and educational attainment. On the other hand, the specific question basically contains
the questions that will answer the objective of this study.
The research tool used by the researcher will be validated by the adviser. Also,
note taking and audio recording device will be used to record details of data to be
gathered and to efficiently records all important statements by the participants for proper
transcription. The notes and the recording would be a supplementary tool for the
researchers on their observation.
Data Gathering Procedure
Upon the approval of the adviser, the researchers will be conducting interview to
at least five (5) to eight (8) selected online selling customers and sellers using the
prepared interview guide. The data gathered will be recorded into a video or voice

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recording device. The researcher seeks adequate information, from various relevant
literatures and studies, for it may serve as guide to construct the statement of the problem
and to formulate the questions in the interview guide. The first draft of the interview
guide will be formulated, and further critique and improvements will be made.
The participants will be fully informed with the study purpose and only to
emphasize the participants’ willfully and voluntarily be part of the study which will be
used as the sources of primary data of this research.
Treatment of Data
In treating the data, the responses provided by the participants should be
documented by audio recording and or or note-taking. The data that will be gathered
should be analyze and interpret to further come up and obtain accurate result to produce a
thematic analysis of the study.
All the data that will be gathered should be treated confidentially.

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 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This presents the data gathered during the interview conducted by the researchers
to determine the effects of online selling experiences to the victims either the customer or
seller. Likewise, it presents the interpretation of the findings which is based on the
analysis conducted by the researchers.

Participant Gender Age Civil Status Educational

Attainment
Alpha Female 24 Married College Graduate
Bravo Male 25 Married College Graduate
Charlie Female 38 Married College Graduate
Delta Male 49 Married College Graduate
Echo Female 58 Married College Graduate
FOXTROT Female 22 Single College Graduate
GOLF Female 21 Single College Graduate
HOTEL Female 21 Single College Graduate
Table 1: Profiles of the Participants
Table 1 presents the profiles of the participants interviewed during the conduct of
the research. The participants consisted of six (6) females and two (2) males, five (5) of
them are in their early twenties, while the other one is said to be in her late thirties. The
other participant is in his late forties, and the remaining one in her late fifties. All the
participants are college graduate, five (5) of which are married, while the other three (3)
are single.
Factors That Induce Customer and Sellers in Partaking In Online Selling or E-
Commerce
There are many reasons why people shop online. For example, consumers can buy
anything at any time without going to the store. They can also find the same product at a
lower price by comparing different websites at the same time. They sometime want to
avoid pressure when having a face-to-face interaction with sales people. The only
resource that can rival money today is time. As a result, “saving time” and convenience
are cited as a reason for shopping online. People that are shopping online are knowingly

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trading immediate gratification of getting the product now for time savings and the other
benefits of online shopping. This can be gleaned on the statement of Bravo, Charlie,
Delta and Echo in which they say that:
“We chose to order via online because of faster delivery of product, Time saving,
discount offer and most especially price is cheaper. We do not need to go
physically in a store to buy something but through this online shopping they will
be able to deliver in our houses, especially in this time of pandemic where we
should limit ourselves in going outside of our houses.”
“We do not have time to go out and shop because we have tons of work to do. If
we have an extra time, we prefer to stay at home and rest.”
According to Richbell and Kite (2007), the fact that they can shop online any time
and from any place where they have internet access might be very appealing, because it
allows them to shop while simultaneously engaged in other activities. Promoting online
shopping as a time-saver is likely to be effective for those experiencing situational time
pressure; not so for those with personal time pressure.
Effects of Online Selling Experiences To The Victim
Financial Impact. As victims all participants in the study had experienced, one
way or another, financial loss but they were not able to indicate precisely how much
money they had lost to online fraud. The study found out that the financial impact on
individual victims varies when it comes to the amount of money lost, the financial
circumstances of the victim, and the resources available to them to recoup losses or write
them off. Some victims reported the financial loss had only a minimal impact. According
to Bravo:
“I was traumatized by the experience of receiving a different product from that I
ordered, and my money just went to nothing because I hadn’t used the item.”
Some victims, however, suffered substantial and debilitating financial impacts.
Social Impact. An individual’s behavior is often correlated with that of his or her
social contacts or friends. In online shopping, this would result in users purchasing
products that are similar to those purchased by their friends. A friend could influence the
user to buy the same product, for example, by highly recommending it. According to the
Alpha:

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 “As a buyer, I bought products that had great reviews from fellow online
shoppers. This influenced me to buy products from them. I also experienced
buying a product in a shop where they had good reviews, but they still sent me the
wrong size of the item. I felt regretful and because of my dissatisfaction about the
item, I posted a negative review to their shop.”
“As a seller, my credibility is damaged because some of my customers received
products from me that were damaged. There are instances where their orders
have cracks or distortions. I tried explaining that due to the shipment agency, the
products received were damaged. The carelessness of the shipment agency
concerning the products are not understood by the customers, thus they leave me
bad reviews when asked for a rating.”
While some customers likely to be free from salesperson pressure, many online
shopping would feel difficult to make a choice and thus get frustrated if there is no
experienced salesperson’s professional assistance (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). Moreover,
some customers are highly socially connected and rely on other peoples’ opinions when
making purchase decision tend. There are also consumers who sometimes shop at
traditional store because they want to fulfill their entertainment and social needs which
are limited by online stores (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009).
Coping Mechanism Of The Victims In Dealing With Their Victimization
Security. Since the payment modes in online shopping are most likely made with
credit card, so customers sometime pay attention to seller’s information in order to
protect themselves (Lim and Dubinsky, 2004). Customers tend to buy product and service
from the seller who they trust, or brand that they are familiar with (Chen and He, 2003).
This may be gleaned from the responses of the participants:
“That experience taught me something, I always chose ‘Cash on Delivery’ on the
products I am purchasing. I always make sure to receive the item first before
paying via fund transfer, since we can never be too sure if they ship out the item.”
Online trust is one of the most critical seventy (70) issues that affect the success
or failure of online retailers (Prasad and Aryasri, 2009). Security seems to be a big
concern that prevent customers from shopping online (Laudon and Traver, 2009) because

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they are worried that the online store will cheat on them or misuse their personal
information, especially their credit cards (Comegys et al., 2009).
Legitimate Shop. One of the stated coping mechanisms of the participant buyers
is to look for a legitimate shop, which is officially registered as an online shop so that if
problem arises they can be obliged to answer or sort out the issue or problem. On the
other hand, a seller can reduce customers’ risk concern when purchasing online by
carrying a brand name product in the website or even have its own brand name
(Korgaonkar and Karson, 2007). A participant said:
“If I want to buy expensive products, I will choose to order directly from their
shop, like Nike and Adidas. The price is more expensive but I know that it would
be worth it, because it came from an official shop. I have the confidence that they
will ship and give me the product which I ordered.”
Holding and selling brand name product can improve the trust of the website.
Brand name is one of the most important issues which affect customer’s buying decision
(Lim and Dubinsky, 2004).
Active Online Service. Customer service is as important as quality of website
(Liu and Guo, 2008). According to Hermes (2000), online consumers revealed that
customer service is a major factor in online shopping satisfaction. If the customer service
is not available or reachable, customers will perceive that companies are trying to hide
something or not intending to solve their problems.
“When I experienced receiving a different shoe size, I immediately messaged
customer service of the online selling platform. They gave me remedies on how to
return the item that I bought, especially when I order from an overseas shop.”
Online stores should provide the added-value of service to customers (Wang et al.,
2005) and have customer feedback channel in their website (Yu and Wu, 2007). There
should be interactivity customer service in the website, so that customers can contact with
the seller anywhere and anytime (Lim and Dubinsky, 2004). Software downloading, e-
form inquiry, order status tracking, customer comment, and feedback are some of
example that online sellers can use to fulfill their online service (Lim and Dubinsky,
2004).

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 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents the conclusions and recommendations of this research on
the effects of online selling experiences to the victims either the customer or seller.
Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: a). what are the
factors that induce customer and sellers in partaking in online selling or e-commerce? b).
What are the effects of online selling experiences to the victim? and c). What are the
coping mechanisms of the victims in dealing with their victimization?.
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the following conclusions are drawn:
1. The factors that induce customer and sellers in partaking in online selling or e-
commerce are the following:
a. Convenience. It is convenient for both buyer and seller. They can shop
while at home or at work. The same thing applies to the seller who can sell
their products at the comfort of their own home. In addition, the seller
does not have to rent or have a store to sell their products.
b.Time saving. The buyer does not need to go to physical store to buy
something thus saving time which can be used in doing other things
2. The effect of online selling experiences to the victim, aside from the stress
that they suffer, is categorized into two: the financial and social impact. The financial
impact refers to the money lost as a result of the bad online selling experience.
Conversely, the social impact talks about the behavior of the buyer towards buying
products online. Because of the bad experience, the consumer becomes more vigilant as
they thoroughly check the product first, while taking into consideration other consumers’
feedback before doing actual shopping.
3. Victims have become security conscious by preferring “Cash on Delivery” as
their mode of payment. This constitutes their defense mechanism in response to their
victimization. They insist on physically paying for the products, instead of using the
online payment system because of the traumatic experience. In addition, they check the
legitimacy of the shop in order to have assurance that what they will purchase is
legitimate and with quality.

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 On the other hand, the seller assures their current and would be customers of the
improvements of their services. They do this by being active online, and ready to answer
any queries or concerns of the consumers.
Recommendations
From the conclusions drawn, the following are recommended:
1. Additional security mechanism should be devised to protect both the interest
of buyer and seller and prevent them from being victimized.
2. Continuous improvement of the customer services of online sellers in order
for shops to maintain their credibility and gain the trust of their consumers.
3. Proper information dissemination to those involved in e-commerce, especially
on how online shopping works. The seller and the buyer must both be properly informed
about this.

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Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3835781

Interview Guide
A. General information
1. Gender
2. Age
3. Civil Status
4. Educational attainment
B. Specific
1. Are you an online selling victim?
2. As a customer or seller?
3. What are the factors that induce you to partaking in online selling?
4. As a victim, what are the effects of online selling experiences to you?
5. What did you do to cope up on your bad experiences in online selling?

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3835781