Living Evidence Synthesis

Grooming and Trust Development

Grooming and Trust Development in Relationship-Based Fraud: Evidence Synthesis

Published Aug 31, 2026 Updated Aug 31, 2026 Romance Scam Research Center

Publications: 30
Evidence statements: 125
Cited sources: 30
Synthesis version: 77

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Source basis: This version used preserved evidence from 30 approved publications with downloaded source PDFs.

Source snapshot generated: Aug 31, 2026
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Synthesis generated: Aug 31, 2026

Public page updated: Aug 31, 2026
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Published by administrator: Aug 11, 2026
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Across the reviewed evidence, grooming in relationship-based fraud is best characterized as a staged, interactional process in which offenders cultivate perceived intimacy and credibility through sustained, often asynchronous communication, staged disclosure, platform migration to private channels, and progressive financial escalation. Studies consistently report that declarations of affection and frequent contact are central grooming moves that precede requests for money, but the tempo of grooming varies widely across cases and subtypes. The corpus provides coherent descriptive patterns linking sustained affective persuasion to compliance and to isolation from third‑party scrutiny; however, authors also emphasize heterogeneous methods, limited dyadic interaction data, and other evidence gaps that constrain causal inference and population-level generalization. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

Staged process and temporal variability

Multiple studies within the reviewed corpus describe grooming as a staged, interactional sequence in which early rapport-building and declarations of affection precede platform migration and later financial requests. Detailed qualitative analyses and conversation-corpus work document repeated patterns of sustained contact, affective expression, and stepwise escalation toward monetary extraction. ^{[1] [3] [10]}

Reported tempos vary: some investigations document monetary requests within days or a week, while other studies and case analyses record grooming lasting many months (six to twelve months or longer) before investment or larger extractions occur. The evidence therefore supports a staged model but also emphasizes tempo variability across subtypes and contexts. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Persuasion mechanics and linguistic tactics

Linguistic and discourse analyses in the evidence identify recurrent persuasive devices used during grooming, including rapid declarations of love (love‑bombing), future-oriented promises, religious framing, and need-based appeals that reframe transfers as charitable or caregiving acts. Corpus and conversation analyses show modal and lexical patterns (for example frequent use of 'will' to conjure a shared future) and repeated affectionate lexemes that support these interpretations. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

Multiple studies document how asynchronous communication enables crafted, persona-consistent replies and selective disclosure: the extra time afforded by text-based messaging allows offenders to produce polished messages, selectively present desirable traits, and manage impressions in ways that increase perceived intimacy. ^{[2] [10] [1]}

Secrecy, isolation, and facilitating compliance

Several sources document tactics aimed at isolating targets and discouraging third‑party disclosure: moving conversations to private platforms, reframing family or friends as unsympathetic or dangerous to the relationship, and explicit requests for secrecy. These isolation strategies reduce external scrutiny and are described as enabling larger or repeated transfers. ^{[3] [4] [15]}

Empirical and qualitative work shows scammers often move communication from dating apps to private messaging, build trust, and then present investment or emergency requests for cryptocurrency. Moving communication away from official dating sites into private channels increases victim isolation and reduces reporting or detection; it can also impede law-enforcement tracking and enable scammers to gather more personal information. ^{[15] [4]}

Financial escalation and operational subtypes

Empirical and qualitative studies consistently report progressive financial escalation: small gifts or test transfers are requested first and, when returned or accepted, are followed by larger requests framed as emergencies, investment opportunities, or joint projects. Offender-side experimental and interview work finds fraudsters adapt their presentations in response to reward signals and use follow-up after initial payments to draw victims further into schemes. ^{[16] [5] [17] [18] [19]}

The literature distinguishes at least two operational subtypes. Affection‑focused romance scams (AFRS) typically emphasize rapid declarations of love, romantic narratives, and direct early solicitations in some cases; relationship‑based investment scams (often labeled pig‑butchering or romance‑baiting) involve prolonged grooming that intentionally seeds and legitimizes investment opportunities (sometimes with staged small returns) before larger transfers. ^{[1] [20] [21] [7] [22]}

Victim experience, harms, and decision processes

Victim narratives and qualitative studies consistently report dual harms: material financial loss plus the traumatic loss of an experienced romantic relationship. Many victims retain emotional belief in the relationship after disclosure, which can enable continued payments or delayed recognition of fraud cues. ^{[16] [23] [24]}

Researchers describe how strong attachment, urgency framing, and reframing money requests as acts of care impair clear decision‑making. Several qualitative accounts link sustained affection and staged vulnerability to impulsive compliance and difficulty disengaging when feelings are invested in a perceived partner. ^{[25] [26] [27]}

Methodological patterns, limitations, and evidence gaps

Methodological approaches in the reviewed corpus are heterogeneous: qualitative interviews with victims, corpus linguistics of scam messages, police and court‑record case analyses, offender interviews, complaint-data studies, and a growing number of systematic and scoping reviews. This diversity yields rich descriptive detail on grooming processes but limits the ability to draw causal or population‑level inferences. ^{[1] [14] [8] [4] [28]}

Authors explicitly note key evidence gaps and limitations: few empirical studies examine real‑time interactions between scammers and victims on messaging platforms; some analyses rely on small or specialized samples (for example, one study selected 30 victim–scammer conversations for detailed linguistic analysis); and the reviewed literature is limited and mixed regarding deception detection, with studies indicating people generally still perform poorly at detecting online deception. ^{[10] [8] [9]}

Future directions supported by the evidence

Multiple authors recommend prioritized empirical work that directly examines actual offender–victim communications to identify specific linguistic indicators and temporal patterns that enable trust formation and exploitation. Evidence-based calls emphasize conversation- or discourse-level methods and digital-ethnographic approaches to capture prolonged grooming dynamics and offender adaptation. ^{[12] [29]}

The reviewed corpus highlights three findings supported by the sources: few empirical studies have examined interactions between scammers and victims on messaging platforms; victims reported emotional manipulation that impaired clear thinking and decision‑making; and at least one educational game’s main narrative depicts a romance scam in which the protagonist, Claire, is progressively drawn deeper into the fraud, with surrounding conversation threads included to maintain social realism. ^{[8] [25] [30]}

References

This AI-assisted synthesis is based on reviewed evidence records. It may contain errors or omissions. Follow the publication and DOI links, consult the original works, and make your own judgment about the evidence.

Topic evidence hub

Explore the Grooming and Trust Development evidence base

This synthesis version cites 30 public RSRC records. The broader Library currently contains 200 approved publications mapped to this topic. Newly mapped publications can appear in the topic collection before they are incorporated into a later synthesis version.

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View 30 cited publication records from synthesis version 77

Citation 1
Anatomy of the online dating romance scam
Whitty, MT. (2013) Security Journal
Citation 2
Mapping Computer Mediated Communication Theories and Persuasive Strategies in Analysing Online Dating Romance Scam
Annadorai, Kalaivani; Krish, Pramela; Shaari, Azianura Hani; Kamaluddin, Mohammad Rahim (2020) Journal of Xidian University
Citation 3
The Frames of Romance Scamming
Faber, P. (2024) Research in Language
Citation 4
Mapping romance fraud research – a systematic review
Kassem, R.; Carter, E. (2023) Journal of Financial Crime
Citation 5
A Study on Romance Scam : The Current Situation and Effective Countermeasures
Kim, Hyo-shin; Seo, Jun-bae (2019) The Police Science Journal
Citation 6
Online Dating Scam Victims Psychological Impact Analysis
Wang, C. (2022) Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences
Citation 7
Analysis of a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam: Pig Butchering
Botha, Johannes George; Singh, Kreaan; Leenen, Louise (2025) European Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security
Citation 8
Tainted Love: a Systematic Literature Review of Online Romance Scam Research
Bilz, A.; Shepherd, LA.; Johnson, GI. (2023) Interacting with Computers
Citation 9
Developing online deception literacy while looking for love
Toma, Catalina L (2016) Media, Culture & Society
Citation 10
Online-Dating Romance Scam in Malaysia: An Analysis of Online Conversations between Scammers and Victims
Shaari, AH.; Kamaluddin, MR.; Paizi@Fauzi, WF.; Mohd, M. (2019) GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies
Citation 11
Unveiling the Romance Scam Scheme: Psychological Manipulation and Its Impact on Victims
Yosiandra, Syakira Yuniar; Sakariah, Dewi Saraswati (2024) HUMANIKA
Citation 12
Self and desired partner descriptions in the online romance scam: a linguistic analysis of scammer and general user profiles on online dating portals
Lee, KF.; Chan, MY.; Mohamad Ali, A. (2022) Crime Prevention and Community Safety
Citation 13
Neutralizations, Altercasting, and Online Romance Fraud Victimizations
Dickinson, T.; Wang, F. (2023) Deviant Behavior
Citation 14
Devices of Textual Illusion: Victimization in Romance Scam E-Letters
Dreijers, G.; Rudziša, V. (2020) Research in Language
Citation 15
Modus Operandi and Blockchain Analysis of Romance Scams: Cryptocurrency-Driven Victimization
Lim, A.; Choi, KS. (2025) International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence & Cybercrime
Citation 16
The online dating romance scam: causes and consequences of victimhood
Buchanan, T.; Whitty, MT. (2013) Psychology, Crime & Law
Citation 17
Understanding the Nature of the Transnational Scam-Related Fraud: Challenges and Solutions from Vietnam’s Perspective
Luong, Hai Thanh; Ngo, Hieu Minh (2024) Laws
Citation 18
What Money Can Do: Examining the Effects of Rewards on Online Romance Fraudsters’ Deceptive Strategies
Dickinson, T.; Wang, F.; Maimon, D. (2023) Deviant Behavior
Citation 19
Shifting routines and the industrialisation of scams: the impact of Covid-19 on deception crimes in Hong Kong
Akartuna, Eray Arda; Yeung, Felix Sin Wai; Manning, Matthew; Bish, Alexandre (2025) Trends in Organized Crime
Citation 20
A scoping review of online romance scams: Conceptual construction and comparative analysis
Wang, Fangzhou (2026) International Review of Victimology
Citation 21
How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering
Griffin, John M.; Mei, Kevin (2024) SSRN Electronic Journal
Citation 22
Persuasive Schemes for Financial Exploitation in Online Romance Scam: An Anatomy on Sha Zhu Pan (杀猪盘) in China
Wang, F.; Zhou, X. (2022) Victims & Offenders
Citation 23
Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims
Whitty, MT. (2017) Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Citation 24
The reporting experiences and support needs of victims of online fraud
Cross, Cassandra; Richards, Kelly; Smith, Russell (2016) Australian Institute of Criminology eBooks
Citation 25
The victimology of online fraud: A focus on romance fraud victimisation
Drew, Jacqueline M.; Webster, Julianne (2024) Journal of Economic Criminology
Citation 26
Distort, Extort, Deceive and Exploit: Exploring the Inner Workings of a Romance Fraud
Carter, E. (2020) The British Journal of Criminology
Citation 27
Understanding Romance Fraud: Insights From Domestic Violence Research
Cross, C.; Dragiewicz, M.; Richards, K. (2018) The British Journal of Criminology
Citation 28
El timo del amor. Estafas eróticas realizadas por mujeres en Costa Rica entre 1970 y 1990 publicadas en el periódico La República
Rovira, P. (2025) Cuadernos Inter.c.a.mbio sobre Centroamérica y el Caribe
Citation 29
Pig Butchering Scams as Cyber-Enabled Financial Crime: A Scoping Review of Dimensions, Modus Operandi, and Victim-Offender Dynamics
Gujarathi, Palak; Verma, Shankey; Nair, Vipin Vijay (2026) Deviant Behavior
Citation 30
HeartGuard VR: Immersive Romance Scam Education
Lea, Octavia; Shepherd, Lynsay A.; Szymkowiak, Andrea (2024) Lecture notes in computer science

Revision history

This history includes approved public synthesis versions. Drafts and unsuccessful generation attempts are not shown.

Version 77
Current public version Aug 31, 2026

Automated claim-level support repair round 2, correcting 1 passage from synthesis version 76.
Version 76
Aug 31, 2026

Automated claim-level support repair round 1, correcting 3 passages from synthesis version 75.
Version 75
Aug 31, 2026

Automated evidence-grounded revision attempt 1. Initial version: complete replacement synthesis created to conform with the independent audit. Protected verbatim passages required by the audit were reproduced exactly and attached to their specified evidence IDs. Broader claims were narrowed or removed where the audit identified unsupported elements; methodological limitations and future directions are stated only where the cited evidence explicitly indicates them. Evidence attachments were selec...
- Evidence statements: 125 (+7)
Sources added: Online-Dating Romance Scam in Malaysia: An Analysis of Online Conversations between Scammers and Victims.

Sources removed: Does age matter? Examining seniors’ experiences of romance fraud.

View full revision history (77 versions)

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