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Living Evidence Synthesis

Revision history

Psychological and Financial Harms

Approved public versions are listed newest first. Drafts, unsuccessful generation attempts, and versions not yet published through this Research Insight are excluded.

Approved public versions

  1. Version 44

    Automated evidence-grounded revision attempt 1. This is the initial version of the synthesis provided for the controlled topic. It reproduces and preserves the auditor‑protected passages verbatim where required, integrates only claims supported by the supplied evidence, and removes or narrowed elements flagged as unsupported by the audit (for example, generalized claims about frequency of asset sales, borrowing, long‑term debt, or cross‑study prevalence statements that lacked explicit support)....

    • Publications: 55 (-5)
    • Evidence statements: 238 (-21)
    • Cited sources: 55 (-5)

    Sources added: Mapping romance fraud research – a systematic review; What do we know about online romance fraud studies? A systematic review of the empirical literature (2000 to 2021).

    Sources removed: Digital Desires, Real Losses: The Complex World of Online Romance Fraud; Expectations vs reality: Responding to online fraud across the fraud justice network; Mapping Computer Mediated Communication Theories and Persuasive Strategies in Analysing Online Dating Romance Scam; Media Presentation of Online Romance Fraud in the Czech Republic: Visibility, Victim-Offender Framing, and Sentiment; and 3 more.

  2. Version 43

    Initial version: this synthesis integrates the supplied reviewed evidence records for the controlled topic 'Psychological and Financial Harms'. No prior synthesis changes are being applied; all conclusions and recommended directions are drawn only from the attached evidence records and the gaps explicitly reported within them.

    • Publications: 60 (+25)
    • Evidence statements: 259 (+96)
    • Cited sources: 60 (+25)

    Sources added: Analyzing the Evolving Modus Operandi of Romance Scams via Court Judgments: Crime Script and Policy Implications; An Anatomy of ‘Pig Butchering Scams’: Chinese Victims’ and Police Officers’ Perspectives; An Explorative Study of Pig Butchering Scams; Análisis Jurídico del Catfishing en Transacciones de Comercio Telemático en Ecuador: Desafíos y Soluciones en el Contexto de la Seguridad Cibernética; and 28 more.

    Sources removed: A new type of victim? Profiling survivors of modern slavery in the online scam industry in Southeast Asia; Cyber Romance Scam Victimization Analysis using Routine Activity Theory Versus Apriori Algorithm; Online love fraud and the experiences of indonesian women: a qualitative study; The Online Romance Scam: A Serious Cybercrime; and 3 more.

  3. Version 42

    Automated evidence-grounded revision attempt 1. Initial version: this is the first complete synthesis prepared for the controlled topic using the supplied reviewed evidence. No prior-version evidence changes apply.

    • Evidence statements: 163 (+3)

    Sources added: The Use of Military Profiles in Romance Fraud Schemes.

    Sources removed: Online Romance Scams: Relational Dynamics and Psychological Characteristics of the Victims and Scammers. A Scoping Review.

  4. Version 41

    Initial version: synthesizes the supplied reviewed evidence on psychological, social, physical, and financial consequences of relationship‑based online fraud. This version integrates empirical case studies, qualitative interviews, complaint‑dataset analyses, and scoping/systematic reviews from the provided corpus and identifies convergent findings, methodological limitations explicitly stated in the sources, and research priorities those sources recommend. No previously summarized evidence was r...

    • Publications: 35 (-2)
    • Evidence statements: 160 (-7)
    • Cited sources: 35 (-2)

    Sources added: Analysis of a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam: Pig Butchering; Beyond Dollars: Unveiling the Deeper Layers of Online Romance Scams Introducing “Body Scam”; Cyber Romance Scam Victimization Analysis using Routine Activity Theory Versus Apriori Algorithm; Educating students on the behavioral and psychological aspects of romance scam victimization via a social engineering competition; and 7 more.

    Sources removed: Contextualised Cyber Security Awareness Approach for Online Romance Fraud; Developments in the Law Governing Online Activity: The Criminalisation of Catfishing and Civil Relief in Cases of Image-Based Sexual Abuse; Digital Desires, Real Losses: The Complex World of Online Romance Fraud; Do we need to know about cyberscams in neurorehabilitation? A cross-sectional scoping survey of Australasian clinicians and service providers; and 9 more.

  5. Version 40

    Automated claim-level support repair round 2, correcting 1 passage from synthesis version 39.

  6. Version 39

    Automated claim-level support repair round 1, correcting 1 passage from synthesis version 38.

  7. Version 38

    Automated evidence-grounded revision attempt 1. Initial version: this synthesis is the first complete replacement that conforms to the audit‑specified corrections. Protected passages identified by the audit were reproduced verbatim with their exact evidence IDs. Unsupported or overstated claims identified in the audit (for example, specific claims about sleep and somatic complaints as a systematic finding, explicit claims about crypto‑flow forensic patterns without documented support, and assert...

    • Publications: 37 (-6)
    • Evidence statements: 167 (-17)
    • Cited sources: 37 (-6)

    Sources added: Developments in the Law Governing Online Activity: The Criminalisation of Catfishing and Civil Relief in Cases of Image-Based Sexual Abuse; Modus Operandi and Blockchain Analysis of Romance Scams: Cryptocurrency-Driven Victimization.

    Sources removed: Analysis of a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam: Pig Butchering; Analysis of the Romance Scam Phenomenon in Interpersonal Communication of Love Scammer & Victim; Cyber Romance Scam Victimization Analysis using Routine Activity Theory Versus Apriori Algorithm; Exploring Fear of Crime for Those Targeted by Romance Fraud; and 4 more.

  8. Version 37

    Initial version based on the supplied reviewed evidence.

    • Publications: 43 (+14)
    • Evidence statements: 184 (+40)
    • Cited sources: 43 (+14)

    Sources added: Analysis of a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam: Pig Butchering; Analysis of the Romance Scam Phenomenon in Interpersonal Communication of Love Scammer & Victim; A Study on Romance Scam : The Current Situation and Effective Countermeasures; Bi-Directional Exploitation of Human Trafficking Victims: Both Targets and Perpetrators in Cybercrime; and 19 more.

    Sources removed: Addressing Cyberscams and Acquired Brain Injury (“I Desperately Need to Know What to Do”): Qualitative Exploration of Clinicians’ and Service Providers’ Perspectives; A Guide to Understanding Romance Fraud; Beyond Dollars: Unveiling the Deeper Layers of Online Romance Scams Introducing “Body Scam”; Connecting Chinese and American Scam Victims; and 5 more.

  9. Version 36

    Automated claim-level support repair round 1, correcting 4 passages from synthesis version 35.

  10. Version 35

    Automated evidence-grounded revision attempt 1. Initial version.

    • Publications: 29 (+1)
    • Evidence statements: 144 (+18)
    • Cited sources: 29 (+1)

    Sources added: Addressing Cyberscams and Acquired Brain Injury (“I Desperately Need to Know What to Do”): Qualitative Exploration of Clinicians’ and Service Providers’ Perspectives; A qualitative investigation of the emotional, physiological, financial, and legal consequences of online romance scams in the United States; HeartGuard VR: Immersive Romance Scam Education; Online Dating Scam Victims Psychological Impact Analysis; and 3 more.

    Sources removed: Analysis of a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam: Pig Butchering; An Explorative Study of Pig Butchering Scams; A scoping review of online romance scams: Conceptual construction and comparative analysis; Leveraging Naive Bayesian Machine Learning for Detecting Pig Butchering Scams: A Cybersecurity Social Engineering Perspective in Africa; and 2 more.

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