Find the studies, inspect the evidence, understand what is known, and see the questions that still need answers.
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AI helps RSRC organize and summarize research. Outputs may contain errors; verify findings in the linked original source.
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Search online coverage across languages, chart reported themes over time and follow connected stories.
Media reporting, not counts of scams.
Explore coverage and chartsStart with a clear explanation, examples of how scams work, and the differences between related terms.
Read the introductionRead living syntheses that connect findings across publications and identify uncertainties and research gaps.
Explore Research InsightsRSRC does not accept individual scam reports or provide direct support. Our curated list points to official reporting and support services.
Find reporting and support resourcesResearch Insights
Read explanations of the findings, follow their sources, and see where the evidence is still limited.
Explore questions in Research InsightsRomance scammers can use emergencies or supposed investments to extract money, and some use romantic promises to obtain sexual contact or imagery. Reported cases also involve physical coercion. These studies describe tactics without establishing how common each pathway is or whether awareness lessons prevent harm.
Participants rated a romance-scam learning tool favorably, and monitored transfers decreased after warning letters. These findings show how people rated a tool and how payments changed after contact—not that either approach prevented financial loss.
Library
Individual studies and reports recently added to the approved collection.
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This publication examines romance scams as a particular challenge to adult protection systems. It notes that affected individuals are not cognitively impaired, but repeatedly engage in self-harming behavior due to target...
View publication recordThis publication examines crimes and harms connected with gay dating platforms in India, arguing that such offenses are shaped by broader social and legal structures rather than solely by individual behavior. The authors...
View publication recordThe article by Lauren R. Shapiro examines cyber-enabled imposter scams targeting older adults in the United States through the lens of Lifestyle Routine Activity Theory (LRAT). The study analyzes how offenders use social...
View publication recordThis PRISMA-guided systematic review examines Space Transition Theory (STT) and its empirical applications in cybercrime research from 2007 to 2025, identifying 19 peer-reviewed studies that explicitly engage with STT. T...
View publication recordThis publication examines how love fraud operators construct a romantic relationship with victims by exploiting the PERSONAL_RELATION frame within FrameSemantics, focusing on how scripts, phrases, and collocations shape...
View publication recordThis publication investigates online dating romance scams in Iran, focusing on how cultural, legal, and familial dynamics shape scammer tactics and victim experiences. The authors conducted narrative interviews with 20 s...
View publication recordThis study aimed to understand how expectations about meeting a potential date shape deceptive self-presentation in online dating contexts. The researchers exposed heterosexual participants to four meeting contexts—face-...
View publication recordAbout RSRC
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.
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