The use of military profiles in romance fraud schemes

“Romance fraud first came to global attention as a crime between 2007 and 2008 (T. Buchanan & Whitty, 2014).”

“Romance fraud has largely been examined by criminologists as a distinct genre of fraud, due to the substantial dollar losses reported by victims, as well as the serious emotional harm they suffer (e.g., Cross et al., 2018; Whitty, 2013; Whitty & Buchanan, 2012).”

“Criminological inquiry on fraud over the last two decades focused heavily on the categorization and quantification of various fraud types as presented online, whether by offenders or victims (Holt & Bossler, 2015; Maimon & Louderback, 2019).”

“It is similar in structure to the US Internet Crime Complaint Center’s reporting mechanism which creates issues for victims and complainants when trying to provide their information (see Holt & Bossler, 2015).”

“Individuals are likely to respond to those who assert themselves to be in positions of authority, even when the individual is not physically present (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2002).”

“Researchers also consider romance fraud to involve activities “where a person is defrauded by an offender/s through what the victim perceives to be a genuine relationship” (Cross et al., 2018, p. 1304).”

“The fact that victims who fall into low income groups were more likely to experience military schemes and report economic loss also reflects some of the literature on economic identity theft (Copes et al., 2010; Harrell, 2015; Holt & Bossler, 2015).”

“Fraud is largely defined by the use of deception to gain a financial advantage (Baker & Faulkner, 2003; Fletcher, 2007).”

“They also focused on the individual offender and sought to include the (potential) victim in the future benefits of their actions, as observed in various AFF schemes (Chang & Chong, 2010; Holt & Graves, 2007).”

“Typical AFF schemes occur under the pretenses of investment schemes, lottery entries, unclaimed inheritances, and employment schemes (Ross & Smith, 2011; Cross & Kelly, 2016).”

“Fraud is largely defined by the use of deception to gain a financial advantage (Baker & Faulkner, 2003; Fletcher, 2007).”

“In some ways, this affirms the vulnerability of all individuals to these approaches (Cross & Kelly, 2016), and the ways in which offenders manipulate and exploit individual weaknesses.”

“In this way, offenders often take on the identity of an expert or someone in authority, as a means to increase their likelihood of success (Chang, 2008, p. 76).”

“There is a strong association with AFF offenses to West Africa, particularly Nigeria, due to the prevalence of fraud involving narratives of Nigerian royalty seeking to move funds out of their nation (Nhan et al., 2009; Salifu, 2008).”

“In fact, many victims report that the violation and betrayal in the breakdown of the relationship is much harder to cope with than the sole loss of funds (Cross, 2020).”

“Therefore, it is “no surprise that fraudsters usually take on identities such as lawyers, doctors and other professions that are more likely to be trusted, and furnish character and scenario details in a way that can be judged more favourably” (Chang & Chong, 2010, p. 342).”

“Many also contain grammatical errors and may not actually address the recipient by name (Holt & Graves, 2007; Onyebadi & Park, 2012).”

“For those offenders who use a military identity, but do not integrate this into their overall story or justification for money, requests which focus on consignments and inheritances are similar to what is established in existing AFF research (Ofulue, 2010; Dion, 2010).”

“In most cases of AFF, this needs to be done without the “usual body language, tonal cues and relational references that are consciously and unconsciously used to judge a person in the flesh” (Nikiforova & Gregory, 2013, p. 395).”

“Offenders will often employ a military identity and narrative to both capture the attention of a potential victim and then to justify subsequent financial requests (Cross & Holt, 2021).”

“Cross and Holt (2021 ) report that fraudsters use military profiles (which engender a great deal of sympathy from victims) to target a range of victims across a wide variety of genders, ages, financial standing, and countries of origin.”

“An ethics exemption was granted by the Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics Committee (#1,900,000,738) for this data request (see Cross & Holt, 2021 and Cross & Layt, 2021 for other articles that draw from this same dataset).”

“…these are often based on emergencies related to health (of the o ff ender or a family member), criminal justice (bail or legal representation fees) or business operations (needing to purchase goods and/or services or pay employees) (Cross & Holt, 2021; Holt & Graves, 2007; Ross & Smith, 2011).”

“These culprits often invent tales of sickness or mishaps, such as automobile collisions, and want immediate medical aid that exceeds their financial capabilities (Carter 2024; Cross and Holt 2021).”

“In romance fraud, the use of a military profile is particularly dominant, with many offenders representing themselves to be (usually USA) military personnel seeking a companion globally (Cross and Holt 2021).”

“…is based upon a request by one of the authors (Cross) for romance fraud data held by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) (for other publications related to this dataset, and further details on the methodology, see, Cross & Holt, 2021; Cross & Layt, 2021; Cross & Lee, 2022).”

“Additionally, Cross and Holt (2021) highlighted that many were defrauded by scammers’ frequent use of fictitious military identities.”

“…romance fraud data provided by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to one of the authors (Cross; for other publications related to this dataset, and further details on the methodology, see Cross et al., 2022; Cross and Holt, 2021; Cross and Layt, 2021; Cross and Lee, 2022).”

“Consistent findings across studies by Cross and Holt (2023), Cross and Lee (2022), and Cross and Holt (2021) show that personal disclosures by victims significantly increase their risk of financial exploitation and physical threats, with scammers exploiting shared information to exert control.”

“A written request was submitted to the ACCC, who released a deidentified excel spreadsheet of all romance fraud reports received between July 2018 and July 2019 (inclusive) (see also Cross & Holt, 2021; Cross & Layt, 2021; Cross & Lee, 2022 for other studies to use the same dataset).”

“For example, fraudsters may pretend to serve in the military or to hold positions of authority (Cross and Holt 2021).”

“…et al., 2018; Kamaruddin et al., 2020); social media platforms ( 3b ) such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn (Aborisade et al, 2024; Anesa, 2020; Cross & Holt, 2021); email ( 3c ) (e.g., Kamaruddin et al., 2020)— where scammers sometimes purchase lists of email addresses (linked to data theft;…”

“There is a wealth of research more broadly which uses victim reports as a means to better understand different types of fraud (see Button, Lewis, and Tapley 2009; Cross and Holt 2021, 2023).”

“A written request was submitted to the ACCC, who released a de-identified excel spreadsheet of all romance fraud reports received between July 2018 and July 2019 (inclusive) (see also Cross and Holt 2021; Cross and Layt 2021; Cross et al. 2022, 2023 for other studies to use the same dataset).”

“…fraud Cross (2019) Australia Qualitative Semi-Structured interviews First Round: 6 victims of romance fraud Second Round: 7 victims of romance fraud Cross and Holt (2021) Australia USA Mixed Content analysis 2478 complaints to Action Fraud Cross and Layt (2021) Australia Qualitative Content…”

“Depending on the narrative they employ, offenders may pose as military officials, professionals, doctors, or businessmen, using demographic details that appeal to victims [3, 19, 27].”

“Identity multiplicity is not accidental concealment but a fundamental feature of cyber-fraud, embedded in demographic fl ows and geographical contexts (Cross & Holt, 2021, 2023; Soares et al., 2025; Soares & Lazarus, 2024).”

“The current study builds on previous works examining themes of military service, data breaches, and identity theft (Cross & Holt, 2021; Cross & Layt, 2022; Sen & Borle, 2015).”

“Romance scams, for example, are not driven by a single persuasion tactic but instead rely on the deep interweaving of emotional bonds, relational dynamics, and cultural narratives to reshape victims’ cognition (Cross & Holt, 2021; Lazarus et al., 2023).”

“There are also niche areas, such as romance frauds (Cross & Holt 2021), incels (Solea & Sugiura 2023) and selling counterfeit products (Shep-herd et al. 2023).”

“Prior research shows that victims are less likely to suspect fraud when emotional investment is high [30, 87].”

“Similarly, Cross and Holt (2021) stated that some of the scenarios used to manipulate stories include emergencies such as health issues, family needs, criminal justice concerns, and business worries.”

“Diversas modalidades de golpes são aplicadas por pessoas vestidas como médicos, outros profissionais de saúde e também como militares (CROSS; HOLT, 2021; REBOVICH, 2021).”