The Online Da+ng Romance Scam: Vic+ms profiles, scammers strategies and the psychological impact on the vic+ms

Transcription

1 The Online Da+ng Romance Scam: Vic+ms profiles, scammers strategies and the psychological impact on the vic+ms!

2 Under- reported crime Over 200,000 vic+ms in Great Britain (and these are people who are aware that they have been scammed)

3 The vic+ms Those who have been scammed out of money Those who felt scammed but did not lose money

4 Objec+ves 1. Devise a typology of the personality traits as well as other characteris+cs for the types of individuals who are more likely to be conned by the online romance scam. 2. Examine the persuasive techniques employed to con individuals. 3. Examine the psychological consequences of being taken in by such a scam.

5 The Studies Study 1: Ques+onnaire: examining the typology of the vic+m (both those who were scammed out of money & those who felt scammed but did not lose money) Study 2: Online case studies ( Study 3: Interviews with vic+ms

6 Study 1: Possible predictors of vic+mhood

7 1a: Non- financial vic+ms Vic+ms and non- vic+ms did not differ in age (p=.232). Men more likely to be vic+ms than women (26% vs 15%; p =.005). No associa+on of vic+mhood and sexuality (men p =.139; women p =.132). Roman+c Beliefs only significant psychological predictor of vic+mhood (p =.003).

8 Personal characteristics Romantic Beliefs Love_Finds_Way: If I love someone, I know I can make the relationship work One_and_only: I believe that to be truly in love is to be in love forever Idealisation: In the relationship I will have my true love will be nearly perfect Love at First Sight: When I find my true love I will probably know it soon after we meet

9 1b: financial and non- financial vic+ms Vic+ms (both types) older than non- vic+ms (p<.0005). No sex differences in vic+mhood (p=.258). Roman+c Beliefs only significant psychological predictor (both types of vic+m higher, p<.005). Roman+c Beliefs higher for financial than non- financial vic+ms (p=.01)

10 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IPA: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (interview study) & grounded theory approach (analysis of 200 online posts)

11 Study 3 IPA: Interpreta+ve Phenomenological Analysis 20 Par+cipants 14 women (all heterosexual) 13 women scammed of money 1 woman scammed but no money lost 6 men 3 scammed of money (1 homosexual; 2 heterosexual) 3 scammed but no money lost (1 homosexual; 2 heterosexual) years

12 Typology Idealisa+on: perfect person i couldn't believe how handsome he was (Study 2) This man was so good- looking, he took my breath away. (Study 2) She was perfect. (Study2) I ve always hoped to find someone like him.it felt like something from a Mills and Boon. (Study3)

13 Typology Lonely +me in their lives History of abuse: first rela+onship (mental models) Mental health problems: chronic depression, social phobia Low self- esteem

14 PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES

15 Previous research/theorising Rusch (1999): social psychology theories Authority Scarce deal Reciproca+on Commitment and consistency Social proof

16 Previous research/theorising Lea et al. (2009): falling for a scam comes down to errors in decision- making Appeals to trust and authority Visceral triggers Illusion of invulnerability Foot- in door technique Long odds gamble Private from family and friends and ra+onal self

17 Previous research/theorising Elabora+on likelihood model: aktudes are changed via two routes of persuasion. Central requires great deal of thought and elabora+on Peripheral focus on the alrac+veness of the source, no elabora+on Vic+ms peripheral route

18 Previous research/theorising Langenderfer and Shimp (2001): Scammer first creates viscerally oriented rewards. Vic+ms needs to be highly mo+vated to want to earn these rewards (mo+va+ons of greed). More alen+on focused on reward aspects of the message thereby conned.

19 THEORISING FROM THE RESEARCH

20 Themes Person of authority Scarce deal/emergency/crisis Reciproca+on Commitment and consistency Love, liking, similarity Visceral influences Foot- in- door technique Near win

21 Norm ac+va+on Norm to help others or be a good ci+zen help sick child help from car accident help with moving bags help with business

22 The profile Physically alrac+ve Straight male profile: authority figure; business man, wealthy; widow; child. Female: semi- professional or student: photo of a model; orphan; nurse, teaching assistant; not wealthy; no previous rela+onship; no children. Gay male: mix

23 ALSO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE PROGRESSION OF THE RELATIONSHIP

24 WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT PROGRESSION OF RELATIONSHIPS FROM DATING SITES?

25 Gender defined lies Women: photos, weight Men: height, SES

26 Clichéd presenta+ons of self

27 Online da+ng research Online daters treat others more like commodi+es. Progress to face to face within first couple of weeks. More cynical. (Whily, 2003; Whily & Carr, 2006)

28 PROGRESSION OF SCAM RELATIONSHIP

29 Development of the rela+onship Living abroad: +me to develop a rela+onship using digital technologies. Poe+c s: used to woo vic+ms Instant Messenger: draw the person close; made the rela+onship a rou+ne part of their day. Voice: developed trust further. High levels of self- disclosure

30 Hyperpersonal rela+onship More in+mate than FtF Receivers: idealise their partner Senders: exploit the technology to be strategic in self- presenta+on. CMC environment creates a space where the outside world is filtered out and cogni+ve resources are instead employed to focus on the online communica+ons.

31 Real Me Traits or characteris+cs that individuals possess and would like to but are not usually able to express.

32 Grooming process Highly mo+vated to find the ideal partner. ICTs used to develop a hyperpersonal rela+onship. Disclose the Real Me. Girs female vic+ms received (e.g., red roses, teddy bears) and male vic+ms sent.

33 Cogni+ve dissonance Langenderfer and Shimp (2001) theorise that when mo+va+on is high and visceral influences are also high more alen+on is given to the reward aspects of the message. BUT: vic+ms work hard to believe the stories they don t miss the non- rewarding messages.

34 V: He said he needed the money because he had his stuff. And I don t know if rich guys take their stuff out with them. I: So what does he mean by stuff? V: His trunk. With all his stuff..his personal items. And I thought, why couldn t you get your butler to go down to the bank because he hasn t got my pin code, I haven t given it to him. And I thought that makes sense because you kind of put yourself in that situa+on. You know, if I had a lady friend, I wouldn t give them my pin number to go and get money. So I thought, ok, he is in the army, you don t take money with you. But then I don t know I trusted him and I didn t trust him you know when you have that gut feeling, like you feel your stomach s being knocked- out and I ve been I was torn.

35 Scammers Persuasion Techniques Model Highly mo+vated: ideal rela+onship Scam triggers posi+ve emo+ons Grooming process is essen+al to the success. This process helps prime the vic+m to focus on the emo+onal cues and cogni+vely dismiss any non- rewarding informa+on. Crisis: cri+cal no +me to check non- rewarding informa+on.

36 !!!! Foot-inthe-door technique Crisis Motivated: ideal relationship Attractive profile Grooming process Crisis Crisis Door-inthe face technique

37 Resilience Factors Being Scep+cal of the following: Wri+ng style Timing or flow of discourse Cheesy clichés Professionally taken photographs

38 Knowing about the scam? Resilience Factors

39 Psychological Impact double hit Greater trauma than the upset caused from other scams

40 Stages of grieving Grieving Denial Bargaining Anger Depression Acceptance

41 Other impact Shame Depression (suicidal) Brain washed Embarrassment Feel stupid Cut off social +es. Isolated and more lonely Loss of trust

42 Second Wave of the scam Scammed but s+ll love you Police needing funds to release vic+ms funds Bank manager needing money for funeral expenses

43 Conclusions More research needed on the risk factors Previous theories do need slight re- working to explain the persuasive techniques. Need to also consider the use of ICTs to develop the rela+onships. Psychological effect: double hit. Preven+on needs to focus on breaking the rela+onship before the requests for money.