The Online Mutual Help Practices of Romance Fraud Victims

This publication analyzes how romance fraud victims use online mutual help communities to cope with and mitigate the harm they experience. The authors frame online mutual help as a bottom-up form of “security of self” that complements conventional institutions. The study asks how victims leverage discussion forums to tell their stories, obtain practical advice, and support others, while also documenting how these forums can function as repositories of actionable information about scammers and as platforms for raising public awareness. Methodologically, the chapter relies on a hybrid approach that combines automated collection of large forum datasets with in-depth qualitative analysis. Three forums— ScamWarners, ScamSurvivors, and Signal-Arnaques—were selected for their content richness. A sample of one thousand conversations (approximately 335 per forum) was analyzed using inductive coding to identify three core themes: (1) supporting victims by helping them speak, regain a voice, and access personalized guidance; (2) identifying fraudulent profiles through shared exchanges, digital traces, and indicators of compromise; and (3) raising awareness through tips, red flags, and guidance on reporting and prevention. The findings illustrate how victims may move from novice to experienced “surviving” status, with experienced members mentoring others and contributing to collective knowledge. The chapter concludes that these mutual help practices can reveal risk patterns, aid prevention, and supplement formal response avenues, while also signaling the need for systematic evaluation, governance considerations, and potential collaboration with authorities to balance support with privacy and safety concerns. It stops short of endorsing any universal policy, emphasizing careful assessment of benefits and limitations.