Tainted Love: A Systematic Review of Online Romance Fraud

Romance fraud involves cybercriminals engineering a romantic relationship on online dating platforms. It is a cruel form of cybercrime whereby victims are left heartbroken, often facing financial ruin. We characterise the literary landscape on romance fraud, advancing the understanding of researchers and practitioners by systematically reviewing and synthesising contemporary qualitative and quantitative evidence. The systematic review provides an overview of the field by establishing influencing factors of victimhood and exploring countermeasures for mitigating romance scams. We searched ten scholarly databases and websites using terms related to romance fraud. Studies identified were screened, and high-level metadata and findings were extracted, synthesised, and contrasted. The methodology followed the PRISMA guidelines: a total of 232 papers were screened. Eighty-two papers were assessed for eligibility, and 44 were included in the final analysis. Three main contributions were identified: profiles of romance scams, countermeasures for mitigating romance scams, and factors that predispose an individual to become a scammer or a victim. Despite a growing corpus of literature, the total number of empirical or experimental examinations remained limited. The paper concludes with avenues for future research and victimhood intervention strategies for practitioners, law enforcement, and industry.