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Online Romance Scams: Relational Dynamics and Psychological Characteristics of the Victims and Scammers. A Scoping Review

Coluccia, A. ; Pozza, A. ; Ferretti, F. ; Carabellese, F. ; Masti, A. ; Gualtieri, G. (2020) — Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health

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DOI: 10.2174/1745017902016010024 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Italy
Tags:   AI-Enabled Fraud, Dating Fraud, Grooming, Offender Tactics, Online Dating Platforms, Online Deception, Platform Policy, Prevalence, Prevention, Psychological Harms, Psychology, Relationship Dynamics, Risk Factors, Romance Scams, Scammer Strategies, Scammer Tactics, Scoping Review, Victim Experience, Victim Psychology, Victim Vulnerabilities
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Synopsis

            
Digital communication tools can help overcome physical, social, and psychological barriers to forming romantic connections. At the same time, online romance scams represent a contemporary form of fraud that has spread in Western societies alongside social media and dating apps. In these schemes, a scammer creates a fictitious Internet profile and builds a romantic relationship over roughly six to eight months, fostering a deep emotional bond in order to extract financial resources through a manipulative dynamic. Two notable features emerge from this phenomenon: the combined trauma of losing both money and a relationship, and the victim’s shame upon discovery, a factor that can contribute to underreporting and underestimation of case numbers. This article presents a scoping review of both quantitative and qualitative evidence on the issue, with a focus on epidemiological aspects, relational dynamics, and the psychological characteristics of victims and scammers. The synthesis draws on a literature review conducted across electronic databases using relevant descriptors. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they analyzed the phenomenon in any population or examined the dynamics of the relationship using any study design. Scoping reviews are a form of knowledge synthesis that accommodates diverse designs and broad eligibility criteria to summarize evidence comprehensively, with the aim of informing practice, programs, policy, and directions for future research. Twelve studies met the criteria for inclusion. Among social media users, about 63 percent report having experienced victimization at least once, compared with roughly 3 percent of the general population. Several psychological variables appear to be associated with an increased risk of being scammed, including being female, middle-aged, higher levels of neuroticism, a tendency toward romantic idealization of intimate relationships, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and susceptibility to addictive patterns. The review also discusses limitations within the existing literature and outlines potential directions for future work. Given that online romance fraud remains largely unrecognized, understanding the psychological characteristics of both victims and scammers can facilitate the identification of at‑risk personality profiles and support the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The review identified few studies (12), limited cross-cultural evidence, and a near-total concentration in English-speaking settings. It notes no scientific studies of the phenomenon in non-English-speaking countries. Evidence is needed on prevalence, risk/protective factors, reporting, awareness among the public and healthcare professionals, clinical and young-person populations, psychiatric and long-term outcomes, and support/prevention tools.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
Scoping review following PRISMA guidance, with a prior protocol. Two authors searched PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar on 4–6 December 2019 using romance-scam-related descriptors; they independently screened titles, abstracts, and full texts, with a third author resolving disagreements. Broad eligibility permitted quantitative and qualitative studies across designs and populations. Two reviewers extracted data into Excel, checked by a third author. Twelve studies were synthesized into relational dynamics and victim/scammer psychological and epidemiological domains.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
Only 12 studies were included. Most underlying studies were conducted in English-speaking contexts (8 UK, 2 US, 1 Australia), with only one in Nigeria, limiting cross-cultural coverage and leaving non-English-speaking countries unstudied. The review also did not use a formal inter-rater reliability procedure during selection. Included evidence was methodologically heterogeneous, spanning qualitative studies, surveys, observational designs, psychometrics, and case series.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Conduct more quantitative research on epidemiology, cross-cultural variation, victim and scammer personality profiles, risk and protective factors, and reporting dynamics. Examine whether gender differences moderate impacts and offending methods; associations with psychiatric disorders and long-term psychopathology; risks among severe psychiatric patients and young people; public and healthcare-professional awareness; and victim-support, prevention, and screening tools. Develop research protocols linking legal institutions and healthcare services.

          

              

    
    

        
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