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"Society Encourages the Killing of Girls Like Me": Layers of Victimization in Online Dating Romance Scams in Iran That Target Sexual Access Over Financial Gain

Sima Amirkhani ; Mahla Alizadeh ; Dave Randall ; Gunnar Stevens ; Douglas Zytko (2025) — Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

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DOI: 10.1145/3757538 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Iran
Tags:   Body Scam, Cultural Vulnerability, Iran, Online Dating, Romance Scams, Sextortion, Sexual Violence, Victim Experience, Women
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Synopsis

            
This publication investigates online dating romance scams in Iran, focusing on how cultural, legal, and familial dynamics shape scammer tactics and victim experiences. The authors conducted narrative interviews with 20 self-identified female victims of romance scams in Iran, using Persian interviews that were translated to English for analysis. They frame premarital dating as highly taboo in Iran and examine how these conditions drive daters to seek secret online connections and how scammers adapt to local constraints. The central finding is that these scams are driven less by financial loss and more by sexual access to a woman’s body, a phenomenon the authors term “body scams.” Scammers exploit Iran’s cultural rules surrounding virginity, marriage, and family honor (Aberou), leveraging threats to disclose intimate material to a victim’s family, including her father, to coerce compliance with sexual demands. Victims face limited avenues for recourse; in many cases reporting to authorities or seeking family support could result in further punishment or violence, making silence and secrecy a rational, albeit dangerous, strategy. The analysis distinguishes body scams from money-focused scams common in Western contexts and argues that such non-Western dynamics require an expanded conceptualization of online dating romance scams. The authors conclude by discussing implications for research and practice, advocating broader, culturally informed definitions of romance scams and greater attention to local sociocultural factors in non-Western settings. They acknowledge limitations related to transferability beyond Iran and suggest directions for future cross-cultural study to better understand how similar dynamics may manifest in other societies. The study emphasizes the need to consider non-financial forms of exploitation when assessing online dating harms.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
Prior empirical romance-scam research predominantly examines Western victims and African scammers, leaving limited knowledge of scams occurring wholly within non-Western cultures. Financial definitions of romance scams also overlook sexual access as an item of value and how local legal, familial, and cultural structures shape targeting, coercion, and victim recourse. Sexual abuse in online dating remains under-researched.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
The study used qualitative narrative interviews with 20 self-identified Iranian online-dating romance-scam victims, all women aged 18–39 at interview. Participants were recruited through Instagram and Telegram and interviewed in Persian via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram using voice or text. Interviews lasted 40 minutes to 2.5 hours, were transcribed and translated into English, and analyzed through inductive qualitative content analysis in MAXQDA, with iterative review by two additional researchers.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
Online interviews meant the researchers could not verify participants' accounts with complete certainty. The sample lacked gender diversity: all 20 participants identified as women, limiting conclusions about men, LGBTQ+ people, and other identities. Findings are grounded in Iran's specific social and legal context and may not transfer directly to other non-Western settings. Recruitment through romance-oriented Instagram and Telegram channels may also constrain the breadth of experiences represented.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Study men, LGBTQ+ people, and self-identified perpetrators; develop a universally applicable definition of romance scams that includes body scams; evaluate anonymous, secure, culturally sensitive reporting systems on social media and dating platforms; examine trust-building, secrecy, anonymity, and psychological effects of repeated coercion across cultural contexts; and test whether Iranian findings transfer to other non-Western settings.

          

              

    
    

        
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