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

Coluccia, A. ; Pozza, A. ; Ferretti, F. ; Carabellese, F. ; Masti, A. ; Gualtieri, G. (2020) — Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health

DOI: 10.2174/1745017902016010024

Synopsis

Digital communication tools can help overcome physical, social, and psychological barriers to forming romantic connections. At the same time, online romance scams represent a contemporary form of fraud that has spread in Western societies alongside social media and dating apps. In these schemes, a scammer creates a fictitious Internet profile and builds a romantic relationship over roughly six to eight months, fostering a deep emotional bond in order to extract financial resources through a manipulative dynamic. Two notable features emerge from this phenomenon: the combined trauma of losing both money and a relationship, and the victim’s shame upon discovery, a factor that can contribute to underreporting and underestimation of case numbers. This article presents a scoping review of both quantitative and qualitative evidence on the issue, with a focus on epidemiological aspects, relational dynamics, and the psychological characteristics of victims and scammers. The synthesis draws on a literature review conducted across electronic databases using relevant descriptors. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they analyzed the phenomenon in any population or examined the dynamics of the relationship using any study design. Scoping reviews are a form of knowledge synthesis that accommodates diverse designs and broad eligibility criteria to summarize evidence comprehensively, with the aim of informing practice, programs, policy, and directions for future research. Twelve studies met the criteria for inclusion. Among social media users, about 63 percent report having experienced victimization at least once, compared with roughly 3 percent of the general population. Several psychological variables appear to be associated with an increased risk of being scammed, including being female, middle-aged, higher levels of neuroticism, a tendency toward romantic idealization of intimate relationships, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and susceptibility to addictive patterns. The review also discusses limitations within the existing literature and outlines potential directions for future work. Given that online romance fraud remains largely unrecognized, understanding the psychological characteristics of both victims and scammers can facilitate the identification of at‑risk personality profiles and support the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

Citation style