Document Type
Honor's Thesis
Date
Spring 4-23-2026
Abstract
Online romance scams are a rapidly expanding cybercrime that affects millions of people each year, financially and emotionally. This study examines an underexplored question: Will individuals with a greater number of abusive partners be more vulnerable to romance scam victimizations and lose more money? Adult dating app users (N = 518) completed an online survey. After controlling for being approached for relationships, those with a greater number of past abusive partners were more likely to be victims and lost more money. In addition, men reported a higher frequency of romance scam victimizations and more money loss.
Recommended Citation
Rowe, Trevor, "The Impact of Prior Abusive Dating Experiences and Gender on Romance Scam Victimization and Monetary Loss" (2026). Department of Psychology. 1.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/psychology_studentpubs/1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2026 Trevor Rowe
