Perez Hernandez 1

Alejandro Perez Hernandez

SOC 305 Cybercrime: a Sociological Perspective

Omar C. Bourouh

10/30/2022

As we well know, online scams are prevalent today, and as time and technology

advance, the increase in threats goes with them. Today, we can say that each of these

threats is classified into different types, and these types have subtypes. However,

scams fall into the area of Cyber Deception and Theft. According to the book

Cybercrime and Digital Deviance by Roderick S. Graham, ‘Shawn K. Smith defines

Cyber Deception and Theft as “the act of lying (deception) and stealing (theft) in the

digital environment [and in which the offender gains materially from the crime]” (91). As I

mentioned before, each type has subtypes, and in the case of Cyber Deception and

Theft, there are different ways in which cybercriminals can defraud their victims online.

In this paper, I will focus on romance scams; I will explain what they are, who are the

people who usually fall for this type of scam, and finally, provide some

recommendations to prevent them.

What are romance scams?

Romance scams are a type of online scam in which a scammer creates fake

profiles to trick someone into making a fake relationship. One of the main reasons

criminals use these types of scams is because "[they can] extract favors from the victim,

usually in the form of monetary payments” (Graham & Smith 98). This establishes

without a doubt that criminals take advantage of the loving or close bond towards the
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victim and take advantage of it financially. From my point of view, it does not surprise

me at all because today, platforms like Facebook, and Instagram, to mention a few,

have been catalysts for the increase in this type of scam. An article called What to Know

About Romance Scams by FTC indicates that “[people] reported a record $547 million

in losses to romance scams in 2021, [which means an 80% increase over 2020

reports]” (Hebert et al., 2022). This shows that romance scams have caused staggering

losses; each year, they are becoming more common.

However, we must mention some critical points: why this type of scam is

increasing every year and who are the main targets of cybercriminals to carry out this

type of scam. Some of the reasons for the increase in romance scams is the fact that

Criminals can make large sums of money quickly, and profiling creates a layer of

anonymity that makes it difficult to track them down. In addition to this, we can highlight

that they are experts in charging for what their victims will usually be required to do

cryptocurrency transactions, "Western Union or MoneyGram, put money on gift cards

(like Amazon, Google Play, iTunes or Steam) and provide them with the PIN codes"

(Hebert et al., 2022). This makes it clear that the target people are those with wide

economic accessibility. According to the article Young Adults, Seniors Over 75 Most

Susceptible to Cyber Fraud: Report, one of the most vulnerable groups is people 75

years of age because they do not have sufficient technical knowledge and have more

economic accessibility. In addition to this, we can mention one of the main factors, and

that is that women between the ages of 40 are also more vulnerable because their

probabilities of establishing a realization decreases and they feel loneliness, so they

choose to use social networks or dating apps in order to meet new people, however,
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many times they find themselves with expert scammers who extract large amounts of

money from them.

How to Avoid Romance Scammers?

Although it is true that most social networks and dating apps are full of romance

scammers. It is good to take into account some recommendations in order to avoid this

type of online scam. According to the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice

recommends taking into account the following:

 Talk to close or trusted people about the new relationship you have and

ask for their opinion about what they think. This is because they will

usually always be worried about your new love interest.

 Search the person's profile on other social networks to ensure that it is a

real person and not a false profile.

 Do not perform any favors if you still do not have much confidence or

information about the person and have not met her/him in person.

(Hebert et al., 2022)

All this with the aim of preventing them and preventing the number of scams from

increasing every year. In addition to this, in case you have been a victim, one of the

most feasible options would be to contact the company or bank that carried out the

transaction immediately in order to report them and ask them to return your money.
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References

Admin-Ectnews. (2022, October 19). Young adults, seniors over 75 most susceptible to
cyber fraud: Report. TechNewsWorld. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from
https://www.technewsworld.com/story/young-adults-seniors-over-75-most-
susceptible-to-cyber-fraud-report-87059.html

Graham, R. S., & Smith, 'S. K. (2020). Cybercrime and digital deviance. Routledge.

Hebert, A., Hernandez, A., Perkins, R., & Puig, A. (2022, October 26). What to know
about romance scams. Consumer Advice. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-romance-scams