Relationship fraud: Romance, friendship and family frauds
Button, Mark ; Carter, Elisabeth (2024) — Journal of Economic Criminology
Type:
Journal Article
Country:
United Kingdom
Synopsis (AI-Generated)
This editorial introduces a special issue through a narrative overview of relationship fraud. It presents a preliminary typology built from known cases, describes common relationship-fraud mechanisms, and synthesises the focus and contributions of ten included papers. Victim-blaming narratives deepen harm and create barriers to reporting and aftercare. The proposed typology is explicitly described as a non-definitive starting point to be developed further.
Identified Gaps (AI-Generated)
Research has concentrated narrowly on online dating fraud and female victims in heterosexual relationships. Male and same-sex victims have received little research. Several relationship-fraud categories in the typology, offenders, and public sentiment are also described as under-researched. The authors state that relationship fraud more broadly remains under-researched.
Methods (AI-Generated)
This editorial introduces a special issue through a narrative overview of relationship fraud. It presents a preliminary typology built from known cases, describes common relationship-fraud mechanisms, and synthesises the focus and contributions of ten included papers. It does not report a standalone empirical sample, data collection procedure, or formal systematic review.
Limitations (AI-Generated)
The proposed typology is explicitly described as a non-definitive starting point to be developed further. The article is an editorial overview rather than a standalone empirical study, so its claims primarily synthesise examples and referenced scholarship rather than presenting new original data or testing prevalence, causation, or intervention effectiveness.
Future Work (AI-Generated)
Conduct research across the broader range of relationship frauds beyond online romance fraud, including under-researched categories in the proposed typology. Priorities include male and same-sex romance-fraud victims, offender rationalisations, public attitudes and blame, sextortion, inheritance-focused fraud, and victim experiences and help-seeking.
AI-Generated Content Notice
The synopsis and research notes on this page were generated with AI from available publication information and, when available, the uploaded paper text. They may contain errors, omissions, or interpretation issues. Readers should follow the DOI or source link, review the original publication, and make their own judgment about the content.
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