Skip to main content

Internet Scamming and the Techniques of Neutralization: Parents’ Excuses and Justifications for Children’s Involvement in Online Dating Fraud in Nigeria

Aborisade, Richard Abayomi (2022) — International Annals of Criminology

View Original Source (opens in a new tab)

DOI: 10.1017/cri.2022.13 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Nigeria
Tags:   AI-Enabled Fraud, Family Support, Nigeria, Offender Social Networks, Offender Tactics, Parental Neutralization, Romance Scams, Victim Denial, Victim Experience
Citation tools
Download RIS Download BibTeX 


              
              

            

          

        


      

      

    

        
Transparency

        
Evidence and review status

        
This page contains AI-generated content. No human content review or subject-matter-expert review is recorded.

    


    

                    

                
Source basis

                

                    Downloaded PDF
                

            

                    

                
AI-generated page content

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Automated checks

                

                    Passed
                

            

                    

                
Administrative approval

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Human content review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

                    

                
Subject-matter-expert review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

            


    

        
            How this was prepared
        
        

                            

                    
Source basis

                    

                    
RSRC downloaded and privately stored a copy of the paper for internal analysis. The PDF is not offered to viewers from this page.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    PDF added to RSRC:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
AI-generated page content

                    

                    
AI-generated research notes displayed on this page: Synopsis, Identified gaps, Methods, Limitations, Future work. The paper itself is not described as AI-generated.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Document analysis recorded:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                            
  • 
                                    Synopsis generation recorded:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                            
  • 
                                    Page record updated:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Automated checks

                    

                    
The current, source-bound synopsis passed the recorded versioned publication checks.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Checks completed:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                            

                            
                                View passed checks (3)
                            
                            
    
                                                                    
  • Length, completeness, repetition, refusal, boilerplate, and active-markup screening
    • 
                                                                    
  • Numerical claims checked against the available source text
    • 
                                                                    
  • English-source lexical grounding check
    • 
                                                            

                        

                                        

                

                            

                    
Administrative approval

                    

                    
An authenticated administrator approved the bibliographic record for public Library display. This is not a review of every research claim.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Approved for public display:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Human content review

                    

                    
No human review is recorded for the AI-generated content displayed on this page.


                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Subject-matter-expert review

                    

                    
RSRC has not recorded review of this content by a subject-matter or methods expert.


                    
                                        

                

                    

    


    

        Review-state definitions

        Found a possible error?
        Request a correction.
    



    



              

        
                  

            
Synopsis

            
This study investigates how the parents of online dating scammers in Nigeria respond to their children’s involvement in romance fraud, using the framework of Sykes and Matza’s techniques of neutralization. It aims to extend neutralization theory beyond offenders to the social networks around them, examining how parents justify or excuse their children’s deviant conduct. The research draws on qualitative data collected from 52 interviews with parents, followed by thematic analysis to elicit patterns in their narratives. Methodologically, the study situates itself in a Nigerian context, where romance scams have been prominent and where public discourse has suggested parental endorsement of offenders. The author reports that most participants were aware of the illegality of online dating scams and initially opposed the practice, yet many shifted toward acceptance of their children’s involvement. The analysis identifies four superordinate themes—responsibility, injury or victims, condemnation, and appeals to higher loyalties—through which parents rationalize or deflect blame, often adopting or transmitting the scammers’ own neutralization techniques. Principal findings indicate that parents sometimes internalize their children’s justifications, even benefiting from proceeds, and in some cases actively advised or supported involvement. Several participants downplayed the harm to victims, framed the crime as a private or victimless matter, or attributed wrongdoing to broader socio-economic conditions or external enemies. The discussion reflects on implications for theory, policy, and practice, noting that families can erode social controls and that religious or community loyalties are mobilized to rationalize deviance. The study calls for triangulated research and greater sincerity in law enforcement and governance to curb cybercrimes. Overall, the work provides a grounded, theory-focused portrait of how parental attitudes can shape the persistence of Internet dating scams in Nigeria.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Prior neutralization research has mainly examined the offender-victim-cybercrime relationship and has insufficiently represented parents and other relatives as possible accomplices or sources of support. The study also identifies a need for theory that explains how offenders' social networks adopt neutralizations for relatives' deviance.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
This Nigeria-based qualitative study conducted 52 interviews with biological parents of people, mainly students, who admitted involvement in Internet dating scams. Participants were recruited indirectly through students after public and online recruitment yielded few volunteers. Interviews took place from August 2020 to September 2021 and were analyzed thematically in NVivo 12 using line-by-line coding, constant comparison, two independent coders, and reflexive field notes.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The evidence is based only on 52 self-selected parents, predominantly mothers (41 of 52), whose children were mainly student scammers. Recruitment was difficult and relied on students to contact parents, which may have excluded less connected or less willing families. Findings reflect parental accounts rather than corroborated accounts from offenders or victims, limiting transferability and verification.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Future studies should triangulate the perspectives of romance-scam offenders, victims, and associates when applying neutralization theory, to provide multiple viewpoints on the theory's role in the rise and persistence of Internet scams.

          

              

    
    

        
Related Research Insights

        

            See how this publication connects to RSRC's living evidence syntheses through current citations and research-topic mapping.