The dual faces of social media: connectivity and fraud in the digital age

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore fraud’s pervasive nature and social media’s critical role in modern forensic investigations. As fraudsters increasingly exploit social media, investigators must continuously educate themselves on emerging means of effectively identifying, collecting and analyzing social media data. This paper highlights the role of social media in detecting and preventing fraud by providing digital evidence. It outlines the forensic process – evidence identification, collection and examination – and emphasizes using commercial and open-source tools to gather, analyze and secure evidence. The research contributes insights into the evolving fraud detection techniques using social media. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a narrative review (Sylvester et al., 2013). Findings Social media can aid fraud investigations by revealing suspect behaviors (witness tampering in The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo), networks (Operation Firewall) and communications, offering real-time data, and providing evidence of fraudulent activities through messages, connections and posts (US v. Brooklyn Men). An extensive review of commercial forensic software packages highlights their utility in preserving and verifying social media data’s authenticity for legal proceedings. In addition, the paper discusses open-source tools like HTTrack and TweetBeaver. Research limitations/implications An extensive review of commercial forensic software packages highlights their utility in preserving and verifying social media data’s authenticity for legal proceedings. In addition, the paper discusses open-source tools like HTTrack and TweetBeaver. Future research directions discussed include the development of advanced SOCMINT tools, AI and machine learning integration and examining how social media policy changes impact forensic investigations. Practical implications The social media forensic analysis procedure includes these steps: forensic investigator orientation, fraud identification, due diligence search, collection and preservation of social media data, technical search and forensic analysis. The paper also addresses the challenge posed by increasing awareness among criminals, who may alter their online behaviors to evade detection. Originality/value All content in this paper is original in its creation.