Who Stole Me? Identity Theft on Social Media in the UAE

Abstract

Objective – This paper is a first attempt at investigating the self-reported number of instances of identity theft on social media among student population the U.A.E while providing an overview of its impact.

Methodology/Technique – As a pilot, this study uses arithmetic analysis to record the first-such study of instances of identity theft among students and its impact on the respondents.

Findings – The results of this study showed that students between the ages of 12 and 18 plus are highly active on social media. Although only 59% of the sample reported being victims of some form of SMIDT, in a small sample size of 128, 59% is considered quite high.

Novelty – In late 2015, UAE users lost more than five billion dirhams due to cybercrimes such as identity theft (Sophia, 2015). However, little or no research has been conducted on the issue of identity theft on social media to begin to understand the depth of the problem.

Type of Paper – Empirical.

Keywords: Cyberbullying; Facebook; Identity Theft; Social Media; Social Network

JEL Classification: D18; M31