Skip to main content

“Sweetheart swindles”, An ODF the topmost OSN fraud, A review

Vidhi Sharma ; Shikha Tuteja (2025) — AIP Conference Proceedings

Citation activity

Total citations · Google Scholar
Unavailable
Average per calendar year
Citation count unavailable

Counts reflect Google Scholar’s coverage and do not measure research quality. Source, calculation and limitations

View Original Source (opens in a new tab)

DOI: 10.1063/5.0292835 (opens in a new tab)

Country:   Global
Tags:   Emotional Harm, Financial Loss, Fraud Detection, Online Dating, Online Dating Platforms, Online Social Networks, Romance Scams, Social Engineering
What do these research terms mean?
Preprint
A manuscript shared before formal peer review and publication. Check whether a later published version is available.
Dataset
A collection of data or examples for others to inspect or reuse. It can appear in Library search and topic mapping, but RSRC does not use dataset records as evidence in Research Insights.
Dissertation or thesis
Research submitted for an academic degree. This describes its format, not its reliability.
Journal article
An article published in a journal. This label alone does not establish peer review, study quality, or how well the findings apply elsewhere.
Qualitative research
Examines experiences, meanings, or processes, often through interviews or observations. It can explain how something happens without estimating how common it is.
Quantitative research
Uses numerical measurements to describe patterns or test relationships. A relationship between two measurements does not by itself show that one causes the other.
Systematic review
Uses a planned, documented method to find and assess research addressing a question. Its conclusions still depend on the included studies and what the search covered.
Meta-analysis
Statistically combines results from multiple studies. Combining studies does not remove weaknesses in their design or make unlike populations interchangeable.
Not classified
This record has no recognized label in this filter. It does not mean the publication used no method, or that no research exists.

Definitions draw on DataCite resource types; Cochrane review methods; NLM: association and causation. RSRC’s dataset and classification rules are explained in our methodology.

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
                

            

                    

                
Source updates

                

                    No notice found at last check
                

            

                    

                
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:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Source updates

                    

                    
No incoming update notice was found in the dated Crossref response. Coverage is incomplete, particularly for corrections and expressions of concern; this is not a guarantee that the source is valid or unchanged.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Last source-status attempt:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
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 publication presents a review of romance scams conducted on online dating platforms, framing them as a form of social-engineering crime that builds fake relationships to extract money from victims and to cause emotional harm. The authors outline the scope of the problem, noting that romance fraud has grown alongside digital dating in the pandemic era and that such scams have become a prominent category among online frauds. The article catalogues a range of dating sites and features, and it compiles findings from reports such as the Federal Trade Commission to illustrate the prevalence and methods used by fraudsters, including common lies, requests for money, and tactics like sextortion. In its approach, the paper categorizes online social-network fraud by intent and type, and it presents a structured table of fraud classes—including identity theft, phishing, malware, business email compromise, and other schemes—along with the potential harms to victims. It also summarizes typical attack vectors and payment methods scammers use, such as cryptocurrency and gift cards, and it discusses the emotional, reputational, and financial consequences faced by victims. The reported conclusions emphasize the significance of dating-site-related fraud, the evolving techniques of offenders, and the need for improved detection and prevention. As a limitation, the authors acknowledge that while AI-based approaches are mentioned as a potential tool for mitigation, the literature on romance-scam detection and protection remains underdeveloped. The article thereby highlights the ongoing challenge of safeguarding online dating users and the limited, still-developing state of protective measures.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper explicitly states that online-dating fraud detection methods have not been extensively explored in the literature. It identifies a need for better security for dating-platform users and support for women and other victims targeted by scammers.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
This is a narrative review. It categorizes dating and social-networking platforms by features, summarizes reported romance-scam losses, payment methods, and cases, and classifies online social-network frauds by fraud type, purpose, and potential harm. It also describes romance dating fraud as human-targeted fraud.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The paper does not report a systematic search strategy, inclusion criteria, database coverage, study-selection process, or formal quality assessment. Much of its discussion is descriptive and based on summarized reports and broad fraud taxonomies, limiting the review's transparency and its ability to support specific conclusions about romance fraud.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Improve research on online-dating fraud detection methods, strengthen the security of online-dating users, and develop measures that help women and other victims resist scammers on dating sites.

          

              

    
    

        
Related Research Insights

        

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