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A Study on Romance Scam : The Current Situation and Effective Countermeasures

Kim, Hyo-shin ; Seo, Jun-bae (2019) — The Police Science Journal

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DOI: 10.16961/polips.2019.14.3.117 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   South Korea
Tags:   Countermeasures, Crime Script Analysis, Cross Border Fraud, Online Fraud, Reporting, Romance Scams, Situational Crime Prevention, Situational Prevention, Sns Impersonation
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Synopsis

            
The study reviews country-level romance-scam conditions and uses crime script analysis to examine offender methods. Because offender interviews were infeasible, it constructs scripts from police-station case-opinion documents and romance-scam victim cases found on portal sites. Romance scams were classified into wealthy-person/inheritance, soldier-impersonation, and customs-fee-payment scripts. Victims may avoid reporting because of shame, self-blame, fear of disclosure, inability to recover losses, or difficulty providing a coherent statement. Offender interviews could not be used because most offenders were foreign nationals and difficult to apprehend.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies a lack of substantial domestic research and insufficient awareness of romance-scam seriousness in Korea. It also notes that official statistics do not exist and high non-reporting makes the true scale difficult to establish. These gaps limit understanding of prevalence, victimization, and changing offender scripts.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study reviews country-level romance-scam conditions and uses crime script analysis to examine offender methods. Because offender interviews were infeasible, it constructs scripts from police-station case-opinion documents and romance-scam victim cases found on portal sites. It maps preparation, execution, and post-offence stages, identifying wealthy-person/inheritance, soldier-impersonation, and customs-fee-payment scenarios.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
Offender interviews could not be used because most offenders were foreign nationals and difficult to apprehend. The analysis instead relies on police case-opinion documents and online victim cases, which may not capture all offending patterns. The paper further states that official statistics are unavailable and underreporting is high, making the true extent of romance scams difficult to determine.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Continuously collect and analyze evolving scam scenarios to enable pre-emptive responses. Evaluate and develop reporting-support arrangements involving government agencies, private organizations, and public media. Develop and assess measures for SNS identity verification, false-account enforcement, and stronger legal sanctions for romance scams.

          

              

    
    

        
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