Abstract
The online dating industry generated 2.98 billion USD in 2023 and is estimated to reach 3.6 billion USD by 2025. Not surprisingly, online dating platforms are rife with romance scams that cause financial damages, with estimated losses of 1.3 billion USD in 2022 alone. Additionally, victims suffer emotional and psychological harms. This paper shares findings from a 2023 Romance Scam and Social Engineering Competition (RSSEC) that introduced students to the behavioral and psychological aspects of romance scams. Specifically, the competition aimed to expose students to (i) understanding how victims experience social engineering (SE) - the psychological manipulation of human behavior, in each of the romance scam stages and (ii) taking on the role of fraud fighters as they engaged with the victims while treating them with respect and empathy, as well as the scammers who were using SE in their cons (tricks). The paper details the competition design (including the use of artificial intelligence), structure, and logistics. It shares findings about students’ understanding of the use of psychological persuasion to con victims across the romance scam process, as well as their ability to work together as effective fraud fighters. The RSSEC gave students the opportunity to treat scam victims with dignity by employing tactical empathy, an important skill for them to understand the behavioral and psychological aspects of cybercrime victimization.
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