Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices as Protective Factors against Commercial Crime Victimizations Risk among Adults in Malaysia

A Behavioral Science Perspective

Abstract

Commercial crime victimisation increasingly involves both behavioural and technological vulnerabilities, requiring prevention strategies that extend beyond general awareness. This conceptual paper examines how knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) may function as protective factors against the risk of commercial crime victimisation among adults in Malaysia. A narrative conceptual synthesis was undertaken by integrating the KAP framework with Social Cognitive Theory and Routine Activity Theory, and was supported by empirical and official literature relevant to fraud and scam victimisation. The synthesis distinguishes exposure, susceptibility, risk and realised victimisation, and proposes that knowledge, attitudes and practices are separate but interacting capacities. Routine activities shape exposure to offenders, social-cognitive processes explain how personal and environmental influences affect judgement, and KAP determines whether warning signs are recognised, threats are appraised realistically, and protective actions are performed. Six propositions specify the expected relationships among these domains and victimisation risk. The framework argues that prevention should address not only what individuals know, but also how they calibrate trust, respond to urgency and consistently verify transactions. It offers a theoretically grounded basis for future empirical testing and behaviourally informed commercial crime prevention in Malaysia.