Samenvatting

Computers and the internet offer new ways to offenders for committing crimes. The present article uses routine activity theory and large-scale victimization survey data (N=6,896) to study digital threat victimization (i.e. threats people receive by email or chat rooms) in the general population. It assesses risk factors for digital threats and compares them with risk factors for receiving traditional threats and a mixture of digital and traditional threats. The results show that youngsters and offenders of digital crime run higher risks of all types of threat victimization. In extension, outdoor routine activities increase the risk not only of traditional threats but of digital threats as well, while the same holds for certain computer activities (e.g. having a profile on Hyves). These findings point towards the connection of social interactions between people in the physical and digital world. Finally, the results suggest that impulsive people are more vulnerable to threat victimization.