From Nigeria with Love: Young People, Moral Justification, and Online Dating Scams

Oluwagbenga Akinlabi

Abstract

Online dating and romance scam is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of cyber-crime affecting people all over the world. The advent of the internet has provided limitless opportunities for cyber-criminals to easily reach their victims and to steal from them without the use of guns or balaclavas. Studies from the US, UK, and Australia suggest that most of the dating and romance scams are being perpetrated by young people in Nigeria. Against this background, this study examined the moral justification for scams among young people of some selected tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Findings revealed that, though the majority of the respondents claimed non-involvement in dating scams, many of them, however, morally justified online scams. The results further indicated that the respondents have tendencies to preserve their views of being moral agents, either complicit of dating scams or having the likelihood to look the other way when scammers inflict harm on others.

Original language	English
Pages	1-1
Publication status	Published - 18 Aug 2016
Event	ANZSOC 2016: 29th Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference - Hobart, Australia Duration: 29 Nov 2016 → …

Conference

Conference	ANZSOC 2016: 29th Annual Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference
City	Hobart, Australia
Period	29/11/16 → …

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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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title = "From Nigeria with Love: Young People, Moral Justification, and Online Dating Scams",

abstract = "Online dating and romance scam is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of cyber-crime affecting people all over the world. The advent of the internet has provided limitless opportunities for cyber-criminals to easily reach their victims and to steal from them without the use of guns or balaclavas. Studies from the US, UK, and Australia suggest that most of the dating and romance scams are being perpetrated by young people in Nigeria. Against this background, this study examined the moral justification for scams among young people of some selected tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Findings revealed that, though the majority of the respondents claimed non-involvement in dating scams, many of them, however, morally justified online scams. The results further indicated that the respondents have tendencies to preserve their views of being moral agents, either complicit of dating scams or having the likelihood to look the other way when scammers inflict harm on others.",

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AB - Online dating and romance scam is one of the most rapidly increasing forms of cyber-crime affecting people all over the world. The advent of the internet has provided limitless opportunities for cyber-criminals to easily reach their victims and to steal from them without the use of guns or balaclavas. Studies from the US, UK, and Australia suggest that most of the dating and romance scams are being perpetrated by young people in Nigeria. Against this background, this study examined the moral justification for scams among young people of some selected tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Findings revealed that, though the majority of the respondents claimed non-involvement in dating scams, many of them, however, morally justified online scams. The results further indicated that the respondents have tendencies to preserve their views of being moral agents, either complicit of dating scams or having the likelihood to look the other way when scammers inflict harm on others.

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