Abstract
Mobile payment fraud via social engineering represents a growing threat in digital finance environments. This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine how Trust in Source influences users’ security protection intentions and behaviors in mobile payment fraud contexts. Trust in Source is conceptualized through Disposition to Trust and Institution-based Trust, while Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) are incorporated as moderators of the intention–behavior relationship. Age, Scam Experience, and User Security Awareness are included as exploratory moderators. Data collected from 290 mobile payment users in the United States were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that Institution-based Trust significantly influences Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control, whereas Disposition to Trust does not. Attitude and Perceived Behavioral Control significantly predict Security Protection Intention, which in turn positively influences Security Protection Behavior. PEOU exhibits a significant negative moderating effect on the intention–behavior relationship, whereas the moderating effects of PBC and the exploratory moderators are not supported. The findings highlight the importance of institutional trust and users’ cognitive evaluations in promoting security protection behavior and suggest that the perceived ease of following fraudulent procedures may hinder the translation of protective intentions into actual protective actions.
Recommended Citation
Li, Eldon Y.; Hong, Rui-Yan; and Huang, Guan-Wei, "Mobile Payment Users’ Protection Behavior against Financial Fraud: The Effects of Trust, Perceived Ease of Use, and Perceived Behavioral Control on User Behavior" (2026). ICEB 2026 Proceedings (Beijing, China). 59.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/iceb2026/59