Abstract- The use of military profiles in romance fraud schemes

Romance fraud occurs when offenders use the guise of a genuine relationship to gain a financial advantage. Research has focused on the general structure of romance frauds, but there has been limited engagement with the potential link between victimization and specific narratives employed by offenders. For many users, a military identity is an attractive profile when using online dating websites or apps. Consequently, offenders have embraced the use of military identities to target potential victims. This presentation provides an overview of how military profiles were used by offenders in their romance fraud approaches. It is based on romance fraud reports received by Scamwatch (Australian online reporting portal for fraud) during July 2018 – July 2019 (inclusive). This presentation provides a summary of results which explored the similarities and differences in how a military narrative is used compared to other romance fraud genres. It found limited differences between those frauds using military narratives compared to others in terms of both targeting and actual victimisation. Overall, this highlights the need for broader consideration of fraud prevention and disruption measures targeting romance fraud.