A systematic literature review of profiling victims of cyber scams: setting up a framework for future research
Whitty, MT. (2025) — Cogent Social Sciences
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
This article presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of research profiling victims of cyber scams, aiming to establish a framework for future studies. The review was motivated by the rapid global growth of cyber sc...
An Anatomy of ‘Pig Butchering Scams’: Chinese Victims’ and Police Officers’ Perspectives
Han, Bing; Button, Mark (2025) — Deviant Behavior
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
This article analyzes the hybrid romance–investment scam known as “pig butchering” (Sha Zhu Pan, 杀猪盘) from the perspectives of Chinese victims and police officers. Unlike traditional romance scams, pig butchering fuse...
Factors Influencing Involvement in Cyber-Frauds in West Africa and the Implications for Policy
Button, Mark; Lazarus, Suleman; Hock, Branislav; Bugbilla Sabia, James; Pandey, Durgesh; Gilmour, Paul (2025) — European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
Tags: victim experience, law enforcement, platform policy, AI misuse, prevention, measurement
Methods: interview
This article examines cyber-frauds and scams as a significant problem linked to West Africa, particularly Nigeria and Ghana, and explores how such activity spreads beyond the perpetrators themselves. Drawing on 36 interv...
Fraud as Legitimate Retribution for Colonial Injustice: Neutralization Techniques in Interviews with Police and Online Romance Fraud Offenders
This catalog-style study investigates the rhetorical framing surrounding fraud as a form of legitimate retribution for colonial injustice. The analysis situates online romance fraud and related encounters with law enforc...
Policing cross-border fraud ‘Above and below the surface’: mapping actions and developing a more effective global response
Button, Mark; Hock, Branislav; Suh, Joon Bae; Koh, Chol Soo (2025) — Crime, Law and Social Change
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
Tags: platform policy, AI misuse, measurement, cross-cultural
Cross-border fraud represents a global challenge, spanning forms such as online retail fraud, pyramid schemes, romance fraud, and pig butchering. While there is clear evidence that these abuses are expanding across borde...
Romance Scams and Older Adults: A Health and Social Care Perspective
Sorinmade, Oluwatoyin; Emmett, Charlotte; Elugbadebo, Olufisayo; Okolo, Chidera (2025) — Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
The proliferation of online interaction has expanded opportunities for connection and encounter, alongside increasingly sophisticated forms of exploitation. This article centers on romance scams as a significant threat,...
Strategic business movements? The migration of online romance fraudsters from Nigeria to Ghana
Lazarus, S.; Button, M.; Garba, KH.; Soares, AB.; Hughes, M. (2025) — Journal of Economic Criminology
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
This catalog entry surveys the topic of cross-border movement among actors involved in online romance fraud, focusing on a shift from Nigeria to Ghana. The article situates the phenomenon within the broader field of econ...
The effect of true crime docuseries on romance fraud reporting to the police
Grant, Stephany; Buil-Gil, David (2025) — Crime Science
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
Tags: victim experience, platform policy, AI misuse, prevention
Romance fraud is a crime in which an individual is deceived for financial gain by someone they believe to be a romantic partner. Despite its reach and impact on victims, this form of wrongdoing remains markedly underrepo...
Therapeutic but toxic spaces: Romance fraud victimization from a psychosocial perspective
Yoshida, Yutaka (2025) — Journal of Economic Criminology
Type: Journal Article
Country: United Kingdom
Therapeutic but toxic spaces: Romance fraud victimization from a psychosocial perspective is positioned within economic criminology to explore how intimate-deception operates at the junction of individual psychology and...
A Sinister Fattening: Dissecting the Tales of Pig Butchering and Other Cryptocurrency Scams
Ordekian, Marilyne; Papasavva, Antonis; Mariconti, Enrico; Vasek, Marie (2024) — 2024 APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (eCrime)
Type: Proceedings Article
Country: United Kingdom
This catalog entry surveys pig butchering scams within cryptocurrency ecosystems and related fraud schemes as discussed at the 2024 APWG Symposium on Electronic Crime Research (eCrime). The focus is a broad examination o...
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