“I Suspect That the Pictures Are Stolen”: Romance Fraud, Identity Crime, and Responding to Suspicions of Inauthentic Identities

Cross, C. ; Layt, R. (2021) — Social Science Computer Review
DOI: 10.1177/0894439321999311
Synopsis

Romance fraud affects a large number of people around the world, with financial losses measured in millions of dollars each year and a trend of continued growth. The offense unfolds when a perpetrator presents the pretense of an intimate relationship in order to secure a financial gain. Offenders engage through a variety of platforms and communication channels to establish the trust and rapport necessary to defraud their victims, and a core element of the scheme is the use of false identities. These false identities may involve misusing a real person’s identity or stealing photos and other imagery to craft a deceptive, invented persona. Consequently, romance fraud creates two primary victim groups: individuals who lose money in the context of a relationship and individuals who become victims of identity crime through romance fraud activities. The article investigates how people respond when they suspect that the person they are communicating with online is not genuine. It draws on romance fraud complaints submitted to Scamwatch, an Australian online fraud reporting portal, during the period from July 2018 to July 2019 (inclusive). Through qualitative analysis, the research finds that a large portion of complainants turn to internet searches as a method to verify or disprove their suspicions about their online partner. This search-based verification process yields substantiated outcomes in numerous cases, with results indicating that the offender’s identity was not authentic. In examining the implications of this victim-centered detection approach, the article contends that internet searches can be effective for victims seeking to ascertain authenticity. However, it also notes that responses tied to online verification may intensify ongoing harms experienced by individuals whose identities have been compromised by romance fraud offenders. The discussion extends to consider the future role of internet searches in reducing romance fraud and the broader consequences for third parties whose identities have been affected by these schemes, highlighting the limits and potential unintended effects of this strategy. The article concludes with reflections on how reliable online verification might be as a tool going forward, and how its application could shape the handling of identity-related harms in romance fraud contexts.
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