Abstract
The Online Romance Scam is a relatively new form of fraud that became apparent in about 2008. In this crime, criminals pretend to initiate a relationship through online dating sites then defraud their victims of large sums of money. This paper presents some descriptive statistics about knowledge and victimization of the online dating romance scam in Great Britain. Our study found that despite its newness, an estimated 230,000 British citizens may have fallen victim to this crime. We conclude that there needs to be some rethinking about providing avenues for victims to report the crime or at least making them more comfortable when doing so.
Highlights
In 2011 the UK National Fraud Authority[1] estimated that fraud costs in the UK equate to over £38 billion a year
This paper focuses on one serious crime perpetrated via the internet: the online romance scam, which emerged around 2008 and has its roots in paper-mail based fraud
This study revealed that 51.66% of British people had heard of the online romance scam
Summary
In 2011 the UK National Fraud Authority[1] estimated that fraud costs in the UK equate to over £38 billion a year. This paper focuses on one serious crime perpetrated via the internet: the online romance scam, which emerged around 2008 and has its roots in paper-mail based fraud. In this crime, criminals pretend to initiate a romantic relationship through online dating sites defraud their victims of large sums of money. SOCA and Action Fraud can only estimate numbers based on victims’ reports and tracing back to victims from known fraudsters. SOCA and Action Fraud have been targeting the following media to inform the public: television, newspapers, magazines, online dating sites, and the internet. Understanding the effectiveness of these media in raising awareness can inform future strategy
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