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The living evidence base for romance scam research

Find the studies, inspect the evidence, understand what is known, and see the questions that still need answers.

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

Research corpus at a glance

Approved publications
222
Living syntheses
7
Quality-cleared synopses
222
Corpus updated

How RSRC Uses AI

AI helps RSRC organize and summarize research. Outputs may contain errors; verify findings in the linked original source.

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Explore the research

Search approved publications by title, author, DOI, topic, year, or research method.

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See what the evidence says

Read living syntheses that connect findings across publications and identify uncertainties and research gaps.

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Research Insights

Synthesis and analysis across the corpus

Corpus-level findings that connect evidence across multiple publications and make uncertainties and research gaps visible.

Living Evidence Synthesis

Attack Methods and Offender Strategies

Attack Methods and Offender Strategies: How Offenders Identify, Approach, Groom, Deceive, and Exploit Targets

Across the reviewed evidence, relationship‑based online frauds follow a reproducible staged progression from an initial attractive profile to grooming/trust building, compliance testing, and a final extraction stage in which money or sensitive data are requested. Offenders common...

Publications:
20
Evidence statements:
242
Read the living evidence synthesis
Living Evidence Synthesis

Prevention and Intervention

Prevention and Intervention for Romance- and Relationship-Linked Online Scams: Evidence Synthesis

Reviewed evidence supports a layered, stage-aware prevention and intervention approach that emphasizes earlier recognition triggers linked to concrete verification behaviours, development and controlled evaluation of small-scale interactive education prototypes, complementary pla...

Publications:
23
Evidence statements:
89
Read the living evidence synthesis

Research Library

Recently curated publications

Individual studies and reports recently added to the approved collection.

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What are the real and perceived risks and dangers of online dating? Perspectives...

This publication reports on a qualitative study exploring online daters’ perceptions of risk and actual experiences with online dating. The authors aim to understand what online daters themselves see as risky, and to doc...

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Strategi Komunikasi Penjenayah Cinta Siber Terhadap Wanita Profesional

The study aims to understand how love scammers target professional women in Malaysia, what factors draw victims into online dating fraud, and how scammers structure their communications. Using a qualitative design, the r...

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“Elder Scam” Risk Profiles: Individual and Situational Factors of Younger and Ol...

The article investigates how individual characteristics and daily activities relate to online fraud victimization, and whether these patterns differ between younger (18–54) and older (55+) adults. The study combines the...

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Introduction to Cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Fraud and Crime

The publication offers a structured survey of fraud and crime in the cryptocurrency and digital asset space, aiming to raise awareness of how scams arise as the technology and markets expand. It describes a broad landsca...

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Developing online deception literacy while looking for love

The article presents a neutral, source-based synopsis of Catalina L. Toma’s 2016 response to Payal Arora and colleagues’ work on online romance in the global south, focusing on the emergence of “online deception literacy...

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Browsers and phone girls: the intricate socialities of friendship, trust and cyb...

This publication examines how youth in the Nima zongo of Accra organize social life around everyday friendship, mobility, and online connections, and how these forms of relatedness shape their ambitions and daily realiti...

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No laughing matter

This article investigates how online fraud victimization is framed and understood, focusing on the social dynamics that shape victims’ experiences. The study aims to illuminate the negativity surrounding online fraud and...

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About RSRC

Built to make romance scam research usable

Founded by LD Herrera, PhD, RSRC organizes romance scam scholarship into a searchable public library and living evidence syntheses for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and the public.

Learn about RSRC and its founder