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My Parents Expectations Were Overwhelming: Online Dating Romance Scams Targeting Minors in Iran Through Exploitation of Parental Pressure

Amirkhani, Sima ; Alizadeh, Mahla Fatemeh ; Randall, Dave ; Stevens, Gunnar ; Zytko, Douglas (2026) — Publication Server of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences)

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DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2601.16321 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Conference Paper
Country:   Iran
Tags:   AI-Enabled Fraud, Financial Fraud, Iran, Minors, Online Dating, Online Dating Platforms, Parental Pressure, Platform Policy, Romance Scams, Sextortion, Technology Mediated Harm, Victim Experience
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Synopsis

            
The study used episodic narrative interviews with 16 Iranian adults who had experienced online dating romance scams while aged under 18. Participants, aged 14-17 at victimization, were recruited through a Persian-language Instagram account focused on romance (11) and personal networks (5). The lack of parental support was associated with enduring distress, insomnia, poor academic performance, family conflict, and, in one case, multiple suicide attempts. No participant felt safe disclosing the romantic relationship to parents, allowing scams to continue for months or years without parental intervention. The sample was recruited largely through a romance-themed Instagram account and personal networks, which may bias participation toward people more comfortable discussing romance scams.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Romance-scam research has disproportionately examined middle-aged women in Western countries, leaving minors and non-Western cultural settings underexplored. The paper identifies little knowledge of how minors in restrictive environments, where premarital romance is taboo and early marriage is normalized, navigate online romantic advances. It also notes that HCI research on youth harm emphasizes grooming, solicitation, and sextortion rather than sustained, fraud-based romantic exploitation.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study used episodic narrative interviews with 16 Iranian adults who had experienced online dating romance scams while aged under 18. Participants, aged 14–17 at victimization, were recruited through a Persian-language Instagram account focused on romance (11) and personal networks (5). Remote Persian-language text or voice interviews lasted 40 minutes to 2.5 hours. Transcripts were translated into English and analyzed using inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The sample was recruited largely through a romance-themed Instagram account and personal networks, which may bias participation toward people more comfortable discussing romance scams. Recruitment was constrained by Iran’s limited research infrastructure and legal and political risks surrounding sexuality and premarital relationships. Accounts were retrospective because all participants were adults at interview, and findings reflect a small, hard-to-reach qualitative sample rather than prevalence or causal estimates.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Future research should foreground local cultural context when studying and designing responses to technology-mediated harms against minors. The paper also identifies a need for further research on how authoritarian parenting shapes minors’ romantic behaviour and decision-making online, and for platforms and policymakers to develop culturally responsive digital-resilience and protection measures.

          

              

    
    

        
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