Online Dating Scam Victims Psychological Impact Analysis

Abstract

In an era of widespread mass marketing scams on the Internet, many victims have reported varying degrees of financial loss and psychological damage after encountering lottery scams and advance payment scams. Among them, the emotional damage to victims of online dating scams may be even more severe because the whole scam process involves mental attachment, sexual abuse, and relationship breakdown. There is little help and support for victims throughout the scam process and even after the scam is over, which not only makes it difficult for victims to get timely and professional assistance after experiencing online scams, but victims even run the risk of being scammed by criminals again afterward, so timely help and professional psychological treatment for victims is of positive significance. In previous studies, there are fewer reports summarizing and analyzing the psychological conditions of victims. In this paper, we will summarize the psychological problems of victims of online dating scams and compare the psychological treatment needed by victims of online dating scams who experience online aggression with the psychological treatment needed by victims who are actually violated in reality. For example, professional treatment for real victims of sexual assault has methodological merit for victims of online fraud, methods of privacy and psychological protection for victims of online romance fraud, criteria for measuring psychological status, and more. These are all measures to promote enhanced victim care and the prevention of online dating fraud throughout the industry.