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Analyzing the Evolving Modus Operandi of Romance Scams via Court Judgments: Crime Script and Policy Implications

Lee, Hyejin ; Boo, Minseo (2025) — KOREAN CRIMINOLOGICAL REVIEW

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DOI: 10.36889/kcr.2025.12.31.4.131 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   South Korea
Tags:   Court Judgment Analysis, Court Judgments, Crime Script, Crime Scripts, Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Laundering, Money Laundering, Organized Crime, Prevention, Romance Scams, South Korea, Victim Offender Overlap
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Synopsis

            
The study qualitatively analyzed 96 South Korean criminal judgments concerning romance scams, sentenced from January 2024 to September 2025 and retrieved through LBOX. Two coders developed and applied a coding sheet, independently coded judgments, and resolved discrepancies through document review and discussion. Romance scams followed a sequential script comprising organizational formation, organizational operation, target selection and relationship building, fund solicitation and extraction, transfer of victim funds, proceeds distribution, and investigation evasion. The cases displayed organized-crime characteristics through systematic division of roles among participants. The study is not a census of all romance-scam cases; it sampled judgments from a defined period, limiting generalizability.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Earlier studies emphasized scam scripts, scenario types, psychological mechanisms, and linguistic persuasion, but had not adequately analyzed recent changes such as virtual-asset use, investment-fraud convergence, organized-crime features, or victim–offender overlap. The authors further note that existing victim–offender-overlap theory does not fully explain all observed overlap cases.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study qualitatively analyzed 96 South Korean criminal judgments concerning romance scams, sentenced from January 2024 to September 2025 and retrieved through LBOX. Two coders developed and applied a coding sheet, independently coded judgments, and resolved discrepancies through document review and discussion. Frequency-based descriptive statistics were used after categorization. Findings were synthesized into a crime script covering organizational formation and operation, target selection/relationship building, fund solicitation/extraction, fund transfer, proceeds distribution, and investigation evasion.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The study is not a census of all romance-scam cases; it sampled judgments from a defined period, limiting generalizability. Findings are restricted to defendants’ statements and information revealed during investigation and recorded in judgments, which may differ from actual offending processes. Because arrested defendants were mainly lower-level money-transfer, recruitment/contact, or cash-withdrawal operatives, the study could obtain limited detail on leaders and managers.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Conduct detailed examination of legal and policy responses based on the identified crime stages and characteristics; analyze victim characteristics; and compare victim–offender-overlap cases with ordinary cases to develop differentiated responses. The discussion also calls for continued research because scam methods are changing.

          

              

    
    

        
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