Logan Hwang
SID: 22926285
September 28,
2013
Online dating scam has been a serious issue in
Canada this year. One Laval resident reported that she was tricked by an online
user she had met from a dating website into giving him tens of thousands of
dollars. The man who organized the dating scam told convincing stories to
arouse sympathy from the victim and asked her for money several times to help
his family pay for bills.
Interpreting the report told by the victim of this
online fraud incident, the main cause of the criminal’s disinhibition was
likely motivated by dissociative anonymity. The scammer and the victim
communicated only through not-in-person devices and such means of communication
made sufficiently possible for the scammer to fabricate a persona that would
attract the victim. The scammer constructed a reputable character by telling
the victim convincing stories, including one about his adopted son, and the
scammer started to arouse sympathy and asked for money as he gained the
victim’s trust. Because the scammer has not been interrogated, there is no way
of revealing the truths. However, whether true or not, the scammer disguised
himself as a U.S. soldier, deployed overseas, and kept his real world,
in-person identity hidden. Furthermore, as long as the scammer is not tracked
down and arrested, he would not suffer any real-world, outside the internet
consequences.
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