In this article, we'll discuss the characteristics of people who are deceived by romance scams.
Have you ever heard of romance scams?
It is a scam in which a woman is proposed to on a social networking site, asked for help for some reason, and then cheated out of a large sum of money.
I found a study on the characteristics of people who are easily deceived by this scam, and would like to introduce it here.
The study
Online dating romance scams are advance payment scams perpetrated by international criminal groups, usually through online dating and social networking sites.This type of Mass Marketing Fraud (MMF) is the most frequently reported type of MMF in most western countries.
This study examined the psychological characteristics of victims of romance scams by comparing them with people who have never been scammed by MMFs.
Victims of romance scams tend to be middle-aged, well-educated women.
In addition, they may be more impulsive (scoring higher on urgency and sensation seeking), more helpful, more trustworthy, and have addictive tendencies.
It is argued here that these findings could be useful to those developing prevention programs and awareness campaigns.
Conclusion
The characteristics of gullible people include
・Highly educated
・Impulsive
・Kind
・Easy to trust others
・Highly addicted to gambling and other activities.
・Gambling and other addictions.
This study was conducted in Australia, but most of the characteristics seem to be applicable regardless of the country.
In general, one would think of an intelligent, tolerant, and kind woman, with a certain amount of wealth, who would not be likely to be deceived, but in reality, these were the characteristics.
Many people may think, "No, I know that," but before being deceived, people think, "I am not deceived.
The study stated that it is important to know what methods are used to seduce people in order to avoid being deceived, so be careful of passionate people only on social networking sites.
Whitty MT. Do You Love Me? Psychological Characteristics of Romance Scam Victims. cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2018;21(2):105-109. doi:10.1089/ cyber.2016.0729
