Research

From Academia: The Psychological Impact of Dating Scams

2015 research, published in the journal Criminology and Criminal Justice, has outlined the psychological harm done by online dating scams.

UK-based researchers Monica T Whitty and Tom Buchanan produced the research, which makes policy recommendations alongside the analysis.

The study describes how unlike regular scam victims, victims of online dating fraud suffer a ‘double hit’ – the direct financial loss, and the emotional trauma of being conned into an online relationship.

For many, the impact of realising their online relationship was a con was far worse than the impact of the theft.

Several participants described the loss of an online relationship as a ‘death’, and all reported being affected negatively by the experience.

The study found a lack of support from family and friends was common in dating fraud scenarios, and many victims had poor coping mechanisms.

Notably, denial was identified as a very poor coping mechanism – victims who refused to accept that their online partner was not real were vulnerable to ‘second wave’ scams.

Scott Harvey

Scott is the Editor of Global Dating Insights. Raised in Dorset, he holds a BA from The University of Nottingham and an MSc from Lund University School of Economics and Management. Previously he has written about politics, economics and technology for various online publications.

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