Modelling the modus operandi of online romance fraud: Perspectives of online romance fraudsters

The strategies that online romance fraudsters employ may vary across different socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and observations of online romance fraudsters in Ghana, this paper develops a model that explains how African online romance fraudsters deceive Western victims. While much of the model aligns with previous studies based on insights from experts, victims, and secondary data, it uncovers significant aspects of offenders' strategies that earlier research overlooked. These findings suggest that African offenders adopt a distinct approach, shaped by regional sociocultural factors, to execute their fraud schemes. The study identifies seven interconnected and systematic stages that African online romance fraudsters use to defraud Western victims: creating fake profiles, conducting reconnaissance, building trust, scamming, reinventing the truth, turning victims into partners, and abandonment. The findings also show how both cultural and personal vulnerabilities become targets for exploitation. This research offers valuable insights for law enforcement agencies, victim support organizations, and other stakeholders to develop effective policies that mitigate romance fraud and reduce its far-reaching impact on victims. The study also encourages further research to expand the understanding of this phenomenon.