Educational Interventions to Reduce Susceptibility to Financial Fraud

Last registered on June 10, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Educational Interventions to Reduce Susceptibility to Financial Fraud
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004258
Initial registration date
June 10, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 10, 2019, 10:32 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Southern California, Center for Economic and Social Research

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Southern California, Center for Economic and Social Research

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-05-15
End date
2020-08-15
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study will examine whether educational interventions can improve individuals' ability to recognize and avoid financial fraud. Participants in a nationally representative survey panel will be randomized either to a control condition, a video-based education treatment, or a text-based education treatment. Half of the video (text) treatment group will receive the text (video) intervention three months after the initial intervention. We will examine the effects of the treatments on individuals' abilities to identify fraudulent investment opportunities both immediately and six months after the initial intervention, and heterogeneity in efficacy by age group.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Burke, Jeremy and Francisco Perez-Arce. 2019. "Educational Interventions to Reduce Susceptibility to Financial Fraud." AEA RCT Registry. June 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4258-1.0
Former Citation
Burke, Jeremy and Francisco Perez-Arce. 2019. "Educational Interventions to Reduce Susceptibility to Financial Fraud." AEA RCT Registry. June 10. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4258/history/47913
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study will examine the effectiveness of educational video and text interventions in reducing individuals' susceptibility to financial fraud.
Intervention Start Date
2019-05-15
Intervention End Date
2019-11-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Ability to recognize fraudulent and non-fraudulent investment opportunities
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We will assess susceptibility to financial fraud by measuring willingness to invest, and beliefs about the distribution of possible financial outcomes conditional on investment, for a series of investment descriptions.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Self-reported incidence of actual fraud
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Study participants will be assigned to one of three groups:

1) Control: These participants will not receive any treatment
2) Video treatment: Participants in this condition will receive a video highlighting the warning signs of fraudulent investment opportunities
3) Text treatment: Participants in this condition will receive text describing the warning signs of fraudulent investment opportunities

3 months after the initial survey/intervention half of the video (text) treatment will receive the text (video) treatment as a reminder.

Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control - 667 participants
Video - 667 participants
Text - 667 participants
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2019-03-22
IRB Approval Number
UP-19-00169

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials