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Love scam in cyberspace

Original title: Liebesschwindel im Cyberspace

Document language: German. English title translated for RSRC.

Christian Thiel (2020) — Cyberkriminologie

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-28507-4_10 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Book Chapter
Country:   Germany
Tags:   Cross Border Enforcement, Cybercrime Prevention, Emotional Grooming, Financial Exploitation, Revictimization, Romance Scams, Victim Impact
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Synopsis

            
This chapter provides a systematic overview of international research on romance scams. It covers how romance fraud is defined and measured, the phases through which a fraudulent relationship commonly develops, and findings about offenders and victims. It also compares psychological and sociological explanations for why the deception can remain persuasive despite warning signs, then reviews prevention approaches used across countries. The work is a broad evidence synthesis rather than a new victim survey, experiment, or case dataset. Its value lies in organizing a dispersed literature and connecting prevalence, process, victimology, explanatory theory, and prevention within one account.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Reliable prevalence, regional distribution, and victimization-rate estimates are unavailable because romance scams are not separately recorded in Germany and substantial underreporting distorts available data. Evidence on offender selection criteria and offender knowledge is limited. Existing accounts also do not sufficiently explain the suggestive power of offender-victim communication; empirical analysis of the concrete interaction process is needed.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
This is a narrative, systematic overview of international criminological, psychological, sociological, and related literature on Internet romance scams. It synthesizes prior findings to define the phenomenon, outline a four-phase scam model, describe offenders and victims, summarize harms and explanatory theories, and review prevention approaches. It does not report original data collection or a formal systematic-review protocol.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The chapter relies on prior literature, police assessments, reported-case statistics, and illustrative accounts rather than original empirical data. The author notes weak and underreported prevalence data, limited knowledge of offenders and their target-selection criteria, and only tentative victim-characteristic findings. Several prevention claims are qualified because causal effects and coverage of interventions remain uncertain.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Conduct empirical analyses of the concrete interaction dynamics between offenders and victims in romance scams. Research should clarify why offender-victim communication is so suggestive and examine how scam techniques, organization, and technologies continue to evolve.

          

              

    
    

        
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