The abuse tactics fraudsters use to break the hearts and wallets of those looking online for love

The techniques used by fraudsters in online romance scams are similar to those found in domestic violence cases, according to our research published in the British Journal of Criminology last month. The finding may help to tackle the problem with more than A$4.5 million lost by Australians caught in romance and dating scams in the first two months of this year alone. According to the latest figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s ScamWatch, that’s up on the same period last year. The majority of the money lost was from reports of fraudsters using online services including social media, email and the internet. Despite the growing problem there is little social science research exploring romance fraud. So far, most of it has focused on the grooming techniques offenders use to lure victims into simulated relationships. But this is only part of the story. How is it that offenders convince victims to send money? In our latest research, we found the non-violent techniques the romance fraudsters use are similar to those encountered in domestic violence