Mapping Cybercrime Victimization:  A Review of Psychological, Social and Economic Impacts

Prabha A; Beulah Shekhar; Ameenul Abdullah K S

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.65150

Mapping Cybercrime Victimization: A Review of Psychological, Social and Economic Impacts

Author(s)	Ms. Prabha A, Prof. Dr. Beulah Shekhar, Mr. Ameenul Abdullah K S
Country	India
Abstract	Cybercrime victimization includes financially motivated offences such as scams and payment fraud, and technology facilitated interpersonal offences such as harassment, stalking, and image based abuse. While cybercrime is often framed in terms of monetary loss and technical prevention, the evidence shows that victim impacts are multi domain and can persist well beyond the incident. This review brings together evidence on the psychological, social, economic, and justice related impacts of cybercrime, and it looks closely at how people try to report and get help, and what happens when they interact with police, banks, platforms, and telecom systems. We conducted a structured narrative scoping review of studies and key reports published between 2010 and 2025. We searched major multidisciplinary databases and selected grey literature sources for work that examined cybercrime victim impacts, coping and recovery, and experiences with reporting and response processes. Findings were synthesized using thematic synthesis and narrative integration to identify cross cutting patterns across offence types and contexts. Across the evidence, victims commonly report distress, fear, shame, anger, and a strong sense of losing control. Many also experience social harms such as stigma, withdrawal, relationship strain, and reputational anxiety, especially when the offence involves coercion, humiliation, or the risk of public exposure. The economic impact goes beyond the immediate loss and often includes time spent chasing solutions, administrative burden, disrupted routines, and prolonged vigilance, even when money is later recovered. Reporting and help seeking rarely look like a single decision. Instead, they unfold as a pathway shaped by embarrassment, fear of being blamed, uncertainty about outcomes, and the effort required to navigate multiple agencies. When responsibilities are fragmented and communication is poor, victims can feel re harmed by the process itself, which damages institutional trust and discourages future reporting. Building on these findings, the review proposes an integrative victim impact framework that links offence mechanics, offender victim interaction, uncertainty, and system response quality to multi domain harms and long tail outcomes. Practice recommendations prioritise time bound fraud containment, coordinated case journeys across systems, procedural justice communication standards, trauma informed support pathways, and monitoring indicators for speed, victim experience, outcomes, and equity. India focused priorities include strengthening the functional integration of 1930 and the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, improving coordination with banks and intermediaries, and expanding frontline capacity for triage, evidence preservation, and supportive communication.
Keywords	cybercrime, victimization, digital abuse, financial crimes, secondary victimisation, procedural justice, reporting barriers, victim support, India, scoping review
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-31
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.65150

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Mapping Cybercrime Victimization: A Review of Psychological, Social and Economic Impacts

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