ROMANCE AND RUIN: THE INTERPLAY OF FINANCIAL LOSS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG LOVE SCAM VICTIMS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Dr. Rhem Rick N. Corpuz, Mary Joy G. Galang, Kim Hope S. Gueco, Kate D. Pamintuan
Angeles University Foundation, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines
Abstract
Scams under love took a considerable share of the cake of problems that the digital era was causing, especially to people who had fallen in love online. This study tried to find out how many social media users in the Philippines had ever been victims of love scams and how it all affected them psychologically. It applied a cross-sectional survey design resting on convenience sampling to gather information about the victims' demographics, financial losses, the scam methods used, psychological distress, and seeking help. According to the findings, the majority of the victims were young, single women who were heavy Facebook users and the victimization was done through love bombing which is the main manipulation tactic the scammers use. Furthermore, loss of money was found to cause significantly higher levels of sadness and stress (r = 0.38) and lower quality of life (r = −0.32), which means that losing money was a major cause of psychological distress. Although the majority of the victims had negative experiences, they did not turn to professionals or friends for help, which points to an issue like shame or lack of access to good support as the barriers. These insights provided location-based evidence to be used for the establishment of victim support programs targeted to a specific area and raise awareness among the public as a means of addressing the psychological and financial issues that spring from online romance scams.
Keywords: Love Scams, Victimization, Psychological Impact, Financial Loss, Victim Support.
Journal Name :
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EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR)
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Published on : 2025-12-26
| Vol | : | 11 |
| Issue | : | 12 |
| Month | : | December |
| Year | : | 2025 |