This article presents a neutral examination of the evolving modus operandi of romance scams through a review of court judgments. Located within the scope of the Korean Criminological Review, the analysis applies a crime script lens to map how deception unfolds in staged relationships, from initial contact to financial exploitation and post‑incident activity. The piece situates romance scams in contemporary online and social contexts and notes how tactics adapt with technology, opportunity, and perceived vulnerabilities. By organizing cases around shared patterns, the study identifies recurring techniques, roles, and decision points in the criminal sequence. Using judgments as primary sources, the authors outline a sequence of actions that constitutes a typical scam, focusing on stages such as impression formation, trust building, elicitation of funds, and attempts to conceal or normalize the wrongdoing. The crime script framework supports categorization of actors (perpetrator, intermediaries) and resources (digital platforms, forged identities, falsified emergencies) and highlights how situational triggers influence offender choices. The analysis emphasizes variation across cases while drawing attention to stable components that persist as the operation evolves. Policy implications are framed to inform prevention, detection, and response. The findings suggest attention to warning signs in online dating interactions, cross‑agency information sharing, victim support protocols, and legal strategies for prosecuting sophisticated manipulation. The discussion considers how courts, policymakers, and service platforms might coordinate to disrupt the script at multiple points—at entry, escalation, and post‑exploitation—while preserving due process. Overall, the work contributes to understanding how romance scam scripts adapt to changing environments and what this means for reducing harm and strengthening policy responses.