The research hub for understanding and preventing romance scams

RSRC curates scholarship across cyber defense, psychology, criminality, privacy, gerontology, AI misuse, and more—using AI summaries and copyright-compliant links to where the work is published.

We do not host documents. All items link to publisher or repository pages.

How the Library Works

Entries can include a quality-cleared AI-generated synopsis, tags, and a link to the official source (e.g., DOI). Filters help you explore by topic, year, or method.

See methodology

Study on Romance Scam Experiences and Support

Information about this RSRC-funded study and any current recruitment updates is available on our Facebook page.

Visit Facebook Page

External Help (No Intake Yet)

We currently do not provide direct support. If you need immediate help or to report a crime, visit our curated resource list.

Find resources

Research Insights

Featured evidence and analysis

Living Evidence Synthesis

Prevention and Intervention for Online Romance Scams: Evidence Synthesis

This synthesis summarizes reviewed, directly relevant evidence on education, detection/disruption, platform safeguards, financial/legal measures, and survivor-focused interventions intended to reduce harm from online romance scams. Across the corpus, there is consistent endorseme...

Publications:
39
Evidence statements:
157
Read the living evidence synthesis

Research spotlight

View 1

El timo del amor. Estafas eróticas realizadas por mujeres en Costa Rica entre 19...

This work addresses a crime that emerged in Costa Rica between the 1970s and the early 1990s, known as the “timo del amor” (love swindle). It consisted of frauds with erotic connotations in which the victims were men dec...

Learn more

Grooming in online dating romance frauds and scams: A scoping review

This scoping review followed a pre-registered protocol and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. It searched seven scholarly and four grey literature databases, screened 3,454 records, and included 87 publications (54 main, 33 updated)...

Learn more

Forensic footprints in digital love: Unveiling romance scams with Maltego and ma...

The study compiles data from open-source scam-reporting sites and Maltego OSINT extraction. Maltego transforms gather website, profile, URL, email, DNS, SSL, hash, IPQS, and linked-account information. Emails and links a...

Learn more

My Parents Expectations Were Overwhelming: Online Dating Romance Scams Targeting...

The study used episodic narrative interviews with 16 Iranian adults who had experienced online dating romance scams while aged under 18. Participants, aged 14-17 at victimization, were recruited through a Persian-languag...

Learn more

Love Scam: Sejauh Manakah Undang-Undang melindungi Mangsa Love Scam di Malaysia?

This legal-doctrinal study assesses how well Malaysian law protects victims of love scams. It analyzes legislation and prior cases, then compares Malaysian online-fraud law with approaches in Australia and the United Kin...

Learn more

Bridging the Protection Gap: Innovative Approaches to Shield Older Adults from A...

This paper uses two hypothetical cases - a technology-support scam and a romance scam - to examine how generative AI could increase the realism, speed, reach, and concealment of scams targeting older adults. Its five-sta...

Learn more

Crypto-Cognitive Exploitation: Integrating Cognitive, Social, and Technological...

This study applied cognitive-vulnerability and social-engineering theories to 204 cryptocurrency-scam reports from California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. Advanced language-model coding achieved a...

Learn more

A note from our founder

RSRC exists to reduce harm from romance scams through research, education, and eventually, carefully designed services. The site begins as a rigorous, organized library to help researchers, policymakers, and practitioners find what they need faster.