Cybervictim: Specifics of Classification

Abstract

The article presents the authors approach to the classification of cybervictims, i.e. victims of various offences (criminal, administrative) on the Internet. Using the research of Russian scholars and his own analysis, the author singles out four types of victims, including: 1) neutral, not characterized by provocative behavior and not triggering crimes against themselves; 2) encouraging, actively provoking in their behavior and providing additional motivation for the actor (the potential offender) to commit discriminatory actions; 3) accommodating - creating favorable conditions and easing the implementation of a criminal intent (overly trusting, non-critical, inexperienced, passive, searching profit, suffering from a mental disorder, elderly or underage, single); 4) opposing - suspicious, opposing, obstructing discriminatory actions (overly vigilant, anxious, mistrustful), whose actions eventually result in victimization. The author presents additional subgroups (subsets) of victims for each of the four basic classification units. The classification is supplemented by interpretations and examples that thoroughly describe the specifics and victimological characteristics of victims. The author has also developed a mental scheme that visualizes the abovementioned classification and makes it easier to understand. Besides, the article presents an analysis of the motives of victim behavior on the Internet and provides a description of some most common internal driving factors for the victims behavior.