“When Suspicion Becomes Detection”: Folk Deception Cues and Detection Strategies in Online Dating Romance Scams

This study investigates how victims of online dating romance scams in Iran experience and respond to deception. Unlike previous research, which often relies on Western-centric perspectives or post-hoc institutional reports, this paper uses in-depth interviews with 24 Iranian victims. The study is situated in a unique environment where premarital romantic relationships are legally prohibited and socially stigmatized, creating a high-stakes landscape for users of mobile dating and messaging platforms.

The researchers found that scam detection is not a single, binary event but a gradual, iterative process. Victims do not passively accept deception; they actively engage in investigative work to verify the authenticity of their partners. However, this process is fraught with difficulty. Because victims often operate in secrecy to avoid familial or legal repercussions, they cannot easily consult friends, family, or law enforcement. This isolation forces them to rely on their own investigative strategies, such as cross-referencing information across platforms, while simultaneously battling emotional attachment and the fear of social shame.

A key insight of this paper is that the same cultural and legal norms that make individuals vulnerable to scams also prevent them from effectively detecting or reporting them. In Iran, the legal system may treat the victim of a scam as a criminal due to the illicit nature of the relationship itself. This creates a chilling effect where victims are forced to rationalize inconsistencies in their partner's behavior to maintain the relationship, often delaying the realization of fraud until significant harm has occurred. The authors argue that Western-style safety interventions, which rely on reporting to authorities or using platform-specific security features, are largely ineffective in this context.