ArticleClinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH2020
Online Romance Scams: Relational Dynamics and Psychological Characteristics of the Victims and Scammers. A Scoping Review.
Article in Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Love as Bait: A Scoping Review and Crime Script Analysis of Online Romance Scams.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2026Article
- The Scammers' Psychological Warfare: A Call to Arms.Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society · 2025Article
- The Mental Health Impacts of Internet Scams.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Review
- Induced erotomania by online romance fraud - a novel form of de Clérambault's syndrome.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Addressing Cyberscams and Acquired Brain Injury ("I Desperately Need to Know What to Do"): Qualitative Exploration of Clinicians' and Service Providers' Perspectives.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- DSM-5 personality trait facets amongst child molesters: an exploratory comparison with other types of offenders.BMC psychology · 2021Article
- Perceived Types, Causes, and Consequences of Financial Exploitation: Narratives From Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- Non-intimate Relationships and Psychopathic Interpersonal and Affective Deficits as Risk Factors for Criminal Career: A Comparison Between Sex Offenders and Other Offenders.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Romance Scams: Romantic Imagery and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDigital communication technologies can overcome physical, social and psychological barriers in building romantic relationships. Online romance scams are a modern form of fraud that has spread in Western societies along with the development of social media and dating apps. Through a fictitious Internet profile, the scammer develops a romantic relationship with the victim for 6-8 months, building a deep emotional bond to extort economic resources in a manipulative dynamic. There are two notable features: on the one hand, the double trauma of losing money and a relationship, on the other, the victim's shame upon discovery of the scam, an aspect that might lead to underestimation of the number of cases.
objectivesThis paper presents a scoping review of the quantitative and qualitative evidence on this issue, focusing on epidemiological aspects, relational dynamics, and the psychological characteristics of victims and scammers.
methodsA literature scoping review was conducted using electronic databases and descriptors. Studies were included if they had analyzed the phenomenon in any population or the relationship dynamics characterizing it through whatsoever typology of design. Scoping reviews are a form of knowledge synthesis, which incorporates a range of study designs and wide eligibility criteria to comprehensively summarize evidence with the aim of informing practice, programs, and policy and providing direction to future research priorities.
resultsTwelve studies were included. Sixty-three percent of social media users and 3% of the general population report having been a victim at least once. Some psychological variables appear to be associated with the risk of being scammed, such as female gender, middle-age, higher levels of neuroticism, tendencies to the romantic idealization of affective relations, sensation seeking, impulsiveness and susceptibility to addiction. We analyse literature limitations and future directions.
conclusionSince this emerging phenomenon is still largely unrecognized, understanding the psychological characteristics of victims and scammers will allow at-risk personality profiles to be identified and prevention/intervention strategies to be developed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.