Romance fraud : its repercussions on victims’ well-being

Abstract

Love is central to human well-being, yet when manipulated through deception, coercion, and financial exploitation, it can result in profound psychological harm. In today’s digital world, the internet has expanded opportunities for intimacy but has also enabled sophisticated forms of online crime. One of the most damaging is romance fraud, a growing yet under-explored psychological and interpersonal crime that exploits trust and emotional vulnerability, with serious consequences for victims’ well-being. This qualitative study explored the holistic impact of romance fraud on middle-aged women using a thematic analytic approach to capture lived experiences and professional perspectives. Twelve participants were recruited: six female victims aged 40–60 years and six professionals from law enforcement, psychiatry, and social well-being. Victims were recruited through purposive sampling, while professionals were recruited via snowball sampling. Data were collected using Single Question Aimed at Inducing Narratives (SQUIN) interviews with victims and semi-structured interviews with professionals, and analysed using NVivo guided by the Duplex Theory of Love. Nine organising themes emerged, reflecting the multifaceted repercussions of romance fraud, including 1) Impact on the self and personal attributions; 2) Psychological Wellbeing; 3) Social Wellbeing; 4) Physical Wellbeing; 5) Trauma and the Criminal Justice System; 6) Perception of the Criminal Justice System; 7) Protective Factors; 8) Coping mechanisms and 9) Recovery and moving forward. By juxtaposing victim narratives with professional insights and existing literature, this study offers a multidisciplinary understanding of romance fraud as a complex psychosocial phenomenon. The findings challenge dominant conceptualisations of fraud as a purely financial crime and highlight the need for trauma-informed research, policy, and practice.