Article Review: Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims
Whitty M. T. (2018). Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims. Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking, 21(2), 105–109. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2016.0729
The article, “Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims”, by Monica Whitty focused on the psychological characteristics of people that were victims of online romance scams when compared to those that were not scammed by these methods. Whitty’s analysis when comparing the romance scam victims to non-romance scam victims revealed that most victims are middle-aged (35-54), well-educated women. These individuals also tended to be impulsive, less kind, more trustworthy, and susceptible to addiction. The results can be used to identify individuals that may be vulnerable to online romance scams and educate to increase prevention.
Whitty’s research relates to principles of the social sciences by gathering empirical data from individuals and analyzing their psychological characteristics to determine if it makes them a victim of cybercrime, more specifically online romance scams.
The 11 hypotheses that Whitty aimed to answer of who would more likely be a romance scam victim when comparing victims of romance scams to those that had not become a victim of romance scams were: Middle-aged people, Women, Less educated people, People who believe they knew little about cybersecurity, Individuals who scored high on impulsivity, Individuals who scored high on external locus of control, which are the people that think they do not have control of things that happen to and around them, Individuals who scored high on trust in others, Individuals who perceived themselves to be trustworthy people, Individuals who scored high on a survey measuring kindness, Individuals who scored high on a survey measuring greed, and Individuals who scored high on an addictive disposition.
Whitty tested these hypotheses by recruiting participants in the United Kingdom using an online survey platform with a mix of non-victims, scam victims, and repeat scam victims. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on their demographics, personality traits, and whether they had been scammed at all and specifically scammed by the romance scam. The results in the survey agreed with most of the hypotheses, with some not having significant findings, but two hypotheses were the opposite of what Whitty aimed to prove: Less educated individuals were more likely to be romance scam victims and Kinder people were more likely to be a romance scam victim. More educated victims and less kind individuals proved to be more likely based on the sample pool used.
Cyber victimization and victim behavior and risk are concepts that were recently discussed in class that relate to this article. Individuals’ actions online and not utilizing safe online practices can leave them open to grooming attempts and potential scams. Cybercriminals will target and profile an individual to gain trust and form a relationship to take advantage of an individual. This article attempts to identify what age group, gender, and personality traits are possible precursors to romance scams. Knowing the possible precursors of the victims of romance scams can aid in catering the prevention education to the appropriate age and gender demographic accordingly.