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Catfishing and Its Implications for Romance Scams by Simon Leviev in Netflix Documentary 'Tinder Swindler' According to the Perspective of Law Number 11 of 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions and the Criminal Code

Rizka Alifia Zahra ; Reggina Salsabila Putri Gunawan ; Nizda Azzima Fauzianti (2022) — Padjadjaran Law Review

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DOI: 10.56895/plr.v10i1.873 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Indonesia
Tags:   AI-Enabled Fraud, Catfishing, Cybercrime, Legal Protection, Online Dating Platforms, Romance Scams
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Synopsis

            
In the contemporary era, fraudulent activities are increasingly visible and proliferate alongside globalization, digitalization, and the ongoing evolution of the technological landscape through Industry 5.0, which has made many aspects of technology highly transparent. In response, a set of legal rules was established to anticipate and curb these threats. Nevertheless, even with such regulations in place, the rate of offenses has not diminished; instead, it tends to rise each year. The study is directed at understanding the legal responsibility associated with criminal actions and romance scams that occur on online dating platforms. This framing situates the inquiry within the broader concern of how liability is allocated for deceptive conduct within digital dating environments and the effectiveness of current legal mechanisms in addressing these harms. The research adopts a normative juridical approach, engaging with applicable laws and the conceptual underpinnings that shape regulatory interpretation. By scrutinizing legislative provisions and the theoretical constructs that inform liability, the study illuminates how existing regulatory frameworks conceptualize and respond to wrongdoing in the context of online dating. The methodological stance emphasizes a legal-analytic perspective, seeking to map how statutes regulate fraudulent behavior and to assess whether the current interpretive lenses sufficiently capture the realities of romance-related scams on dating sites. Through this lens, the work aims to reveal ambiguities, limitations, or gaps in the law as it relates to accountability for online dating fraud. The investigation identifies key drivers behind fraudulent activity in dating applications, noting that economic motives, the chance opportunities afforded by digital platforms, and the rapid pace of technological advancement collectively contribute to the emergence of such offenses. These elements are considered central to understanding why deception and fraud persist within online dating ecosystems. The analysis encompasses phenomena like catfishing and romance scams, exploring how legal protections apply to operators and users of dating sites. By articulating the sources of liability and the boundaries of legal remedy, the study seeks to inform policy deliberations, enforcement priorities, and the practical application of law to mitigate fraud on online dating platforms.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies the absence of a specific law prohibiting catfishing and describes prevention, enforcement, and legal supervision of love scams in Indonesia as weak or not optimal. It also indicates that existing general electronic-information and criminal-law provisions are being used to address conduct that lacks a dedicated catfishing framework.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
This descriptive normative-juridical legal study examines the Simon Leviev case depicted in The Tinder Swindler. It applies statutory and conceptual approaches, using primary legal materials—Indonesia's Electronic Information and Transactions Law and Criminal Code—and secondary materials such as newspapers and foreign news sources. The analysis maps alleged conduct onto criminal-law provisions and discusses victim-protection routes.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The study is a normative legal analysis rather than an empirical investigation of victims, offenders, platforms, or enforcement outcomes. Its discussion of the Leviev case relies substantially on a documentary and secondary sources, and it evaluates Indonesian legal provisions against conduct occurring outside Indonesia. Consequently, claims about prevalence, victim experiences, and practical effectiveness of legal protection are not independently tested.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Develop a specialist cybercrime community group to provide factual information on harmful internet-based networks to government and law-enforcement agencies, supporting network detection, enforcement, and protection of Indonesian internet users.

          

              

    
    

        
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