Online Dating Sites: A tool for romance scams or a lucrative e-business model?

Online dating sites are a new lucrative B2C e-business model, however, these sites are increasingly used by felons and scammers to exploit vulnerable customers. Although the impact of online dating scams on victims is vast, and online dating sites are a growing e-business, research on this topic is almost non-existent. The few studies on online dating sites are generally from Psychology addressing user issues. The aim of this research is to explore online dating sites as an e-business model, types of scams carried out via these sites, and regulations required to protect users of online dating sites. Using document analysis, this research will establish the current business models of online dating sites, the types of online dating scams, the impact of these scams on victims, and will develop a typology of these issues for the protection of users and for reducing this new type of cybercrime. Findings of this research will contribute to knowledge on online dating sites as an e-business model which unfortunately is misused by some users for criminal activities to provide future research directions.