Online romance scams and victimhood
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The execution of a romance scam typically begins with the scammer creating an attractive profile on a dating site or social media platform that replicates a celebrity or figure of authority or portrays an entirely fictitious identity.
“The execution of a romance scam typically begins with the scammer creating an attractive profile on a dating site or social media platform that replicates a celebrity or figure of authority or portrays an entirely fictitious identity (Sorell and Whitty, 2019).”
From Tainted Love: a Systematic Literature Review of Online Romance Scam Research (2023) · cites this paper as Sorell and Whitty, 2019
The opening section (p. 2) says scammers start by creating deceptive dating-site profiles using stolen images and constructed personas. A case study (p. 25) describes a scammer posing as an American general. The copy does not establish that they typically use social-media platforms or replicate celebrities or specific authority figures. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredVictims who disclosed to peers did not get the necessary support but experienced increased negative feelings of self-blame.
“Those victims who disclosed to peers did not get the necessary support but experienced increased negative feelings of self-blame”
From Tainted Love: a Systematic Literature Review of Online Romance Scam Research (2023) · cites this paper as Sorell and Whitty, 2019
The introduction (p. 4) says victims often blame themselves and may also be blamed by family. A case study (p. 24) describes a victim whose children rejected her after she told them about the scam. Neither passage establishes that disclosure to peers generally deprived victims of support or increased their self-blame. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSelf-blame is common among romance scam victims, especially when victims cannot recognize the fraudulent nature of the relationship despite being warned by others.
“which is common among romance scam victims, especially when victims cannot recognize the fraudulent nature of the relationship despite being warned by others (Sorell and Whitty, 2019)”
From Tainted Love: a Systematic Literature Review of Online Romance Scam Research (2023) · cites this paper as Sorell and Whitty, 2019
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Cites
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“That is, those who succumb to online scammers tend to be susceptible to hyperpersonal relationships initiated by scammers (Whitty 2013).”
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“…that there were 14,546 US victims of romance or confidence scams in 2016, a rise of over 200 per cent from 5791 in 2014.1 Individuals’ losses can range between £50 and £240,000, although the harms have been found to be a ‘double hit’ of financial and psychological loss (Whitty and Buchanan 2016).”
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Tainted Love: a Systematic Literature Review of Online Romance Scam Research
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How Do Individuals Justify and Rationalize Their Criminal Behaviors in Online Romance Fraud?
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The charade of discreetness: Exploring the paradoxical lifestyles of romance fraudsters
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- Authors
- Sorell, T., & Whitty, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Warwick (GB)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Sorell, Tom
- Venue
- Security Journal
- Published
- 2019-01-21
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 342-361
- ISSN
- 0955-1662 (ISSN-L)
- 1743-4645
- OpenAlex
- W2914333422
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 6.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Security Journal (publishedVersion)
- Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/N028112/2)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Keywords
- victim responsibility, self-blame, psychological harm, fraud, epistemic norms, romantic attachment, blame attribution, imprudence
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