Online routines and identity theft victimization: Further expanding routine activity theory beyond direct-contact offenses

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to extend recent work aimed at applying routine activity theory to crimes in which the victim and offender never come into physical proximity. To that end, relationships between individuals ’ online routines and identity theft victimization were examined. Method: Data from a subsample of 5,985 respondents from the 2008 to 2009 British Crime Survey were analyzed. Utilizing binary logistic regression, the relationships between individuals ’ online routine activities (e.g., banking, shopping, downloading), individual characteristics (e.g., gen-der, age, employment), and perceived risk of victimization on identity theft victimization were assessed. Results: The results suggest that individuals who use the Internet for banking and/or e-mailing/instant messaging ar