The Romance Scams.

The Romance Scams.

One issue which is of particular concern for the authorities, among others, is the issue of
Romance Scams. “Romance Scams”, or ‘sweetheart swindles’, “are emotionally
devastating types of fraud, as scammers make their victims believe they have strong
feelings for them.


The romance component of the scam acts as a bait to lure victims, before committing other
types of fraud, such as identity theft and financial fraud”. A recent article showed that “in
2014, New Zealanders lost $1.56 million in online dating scams”. However, loses are not
only accountable in money, victims of romance scams receive a ‘‘double hit from this
crime: the loss of money as well as the loss of a relationship”.

ODS users are considered as a scammer if he/she is using the service to take advantage
(mostly economic) of another user7. The process of taking advantage of other ODS users
by luring them to believe there is potential match is what this paper has presented as
“Romance Scam”. Recent reports have revealed that this crime can be a process that can
take months8, displaying the following elements:


1. Creating an illusion: scammers elaborate profiles in legitimate on-line dating sites.
These profiles are enhanced with characteristics that would lure a large number of victims
easily. Some examples are given on the website posted by The Ministry of Business,
Innovation & Employment9 to help consumers to identify scammers. Some “red flags” are
“women who are very attractive of mixed ethnicity, around 31 years of age, Christian,
looking for a 58-year old male”10. All of these fake profiles create an illusion, strategically
designed to fit victim’s expectations.


2. Contacting the victim. Scammers then establish a “strong bond with their victims
through constant communication to generate confidence, and romantic liaisons”11. This
stage can take even years, however according to a recent report the time varies depending
on each victim. “One victim, for instance, lost approximately £70,000 over a weekend
after finding out that the ‘romantic partner’ was a fake after a month”12. Some
investigations have encountered complex organisations of criminals with sophisticated
methods to contact and luring victims by ODS. A report made by CBC exposed that “some
networks hired trained psychologists who assisted in further psychologically trapping
victims”13.

3. Asking for Money. Once scammers have gained the victim’s trust, they ask for
money – giving all sorts of excuses. Often, the scammer asks for gifts (e.g., perfume,
mobile phone, and laptop) as a testing-the-water strategy14. Other times, scammers
elaborate a complex story to appeal to the compassionate side of the victim.
The online dating romance scam emerged around 200715 and it could be considered as an
increasing and concerning issue for policy-makers, consumer protection agencies and
general authorities.

7 Monica Whitty “The Psychology of the Online Dating Romance Scam” (April 2012) The University of Leicester < www2.le.ac.uk>. 8 Above n 2, at 512. 9 10 Above. 11 Aunshul Rege “ What’s love got to do with it? exploring online dating scams and identity fraud”. (2009) Vol 3 (2) IJCC 494 at 512. 12 Monica Whitty “Anatomy of the Online Dating Romance Scam” (2013) The University of Leicester < www2.le.ac.uk> 13 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation “Cyberlove lost in Russian bride scam” CBC News (Online Ed, Montreal, 2008). 14 Rege, above n 11, at 6.