Abstract:
Online Romance Scams (ORS) are a relatively new form of fraud that is beginning to get more traction in the realm of criminology. While different forms of fraud have been committed throughout history, the rise of the internet has provided criminals with a new platform in which to commit crimes and then create new identities in order to avoid detection. Victims of ORS often experience the devastation of losing a long term relationship, and substantial financial loss, which has been coined the “double hit” effect of ORS. In New Zealand, statistics show that $1.3 million was lost to ORS in 2015, while in America during the same period, $203 million was the recorded financial loss. The aim of this study was to apply the Routine Activity theory to ORS victimisation, in the attempt to identify activities that increases the chance of victimisation, and to identify a plausible capable guardian. To achieve this 11 in-depth interviews were conducted with three groups of people: 1) victims of ORS; 2) people that use dating sites, but have not been victimised; and 3) stakeholders. The results showed that the RAT was ineffective in predicting the chance of victimisation, however the results may be limited due to the relatively small scale in which this research was conducted. This paper further discusses the social attitudes held towards victims of ORS, opinions relating to their perceived risk of victimisation, responsibly for safeguards, and the limitations of the judicial system with regards to perpetrators of ORS. Finally, the paper discussed the additional findings and concludes this thesis with a contribution to knowledge.
