Internet romance fraud presents a widespread challenge with outcomes ranging from financial harm and emotional distress to more severe losses. This article investigates how individuals who perpetrate online dating scams justify their unlawful actions and how they exploit patterns of victim behavior to enable their schemes. The analysis centers on three aspects of victim precipitation theory as they pertain to online romance fraud: victim facilitation, victim provocation, and victim openness. The study clarifies the ways in which offenders rationalize and defend their conduct. Data were collected from 320 respondents drawn from locations associated with internet fraud activity. The research aims to illuminate the conditions under which each facet of victim precipitation emerges within the setting of online romance scams. The findings indicate that offenders rely substantially on victim-related factors to sustain their criminal activity, with each facet serving as a justification mechanism that heightens the offender’s propensity to engage in fraud. All three techniques of victim precipitation—openness by victims, facilitation by victims, and provocation by victims—are employed as part of the offenders’ rationalization processes. In this account, these three dimensions are used in tandem to support a narrative that increases the likelihood of continued offending. The results demonstrate that these strategies function as justification techniques within the offenders’ reasoning, thereby expanding the application of victim precipitation theory to the domain of online dating fraud and highlighting how psychological framing can facilitate illicit acts in digital contexts. From a theoretical and criminological perspective, the study broadens the boundaries of victim precipitation theory and adds fresh dimensions to its application in online romance fraud. It offers a new lens on how victims’ conduct and perceived signaling may interact with offender rationalizations, contributing to ongoing debates in criminology about the role of victim behavior in facilitating crime. The findings carry implications for policy and practice, suggesting updated guidance on victim awareness and protective behaviors in internet dating environments and informing approaches to mitigate risk in cases of online romance deception.