Access to justice [survey]

[sueellen100]

Hello,
I am conducting some research into access for justice for victims of romance scams. In particular I'm looking at the response of law enforcement agencies to victims reporting the crime. I am interested in your experiences if you were the victim of a romance scam, whether you reported the crime or decided not to. If you did report, how did you find the experience (for example, did you feel they took you seriously? Were they sympathetic or dismissive etc) and if you decided not to report, then why not).

I would be grateful if you could fill out this very quick google survey, should not take more than 5 minutes.
It is hosted on google documents but you don't need to log in and it's anonymous.

Thank you very much!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/11UM9QO ... I/viewform

[FrumpyBB]

Let me move this to Voting Polls
And let me add that this poster has found our FB site, I invited her over, and this survey is genuine

The only small collection we have is this: http://www.romancescam.com/forum/viewto ... 13&t=68512" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plus the general experience that

local police is unable to do investigations in West-Africa
only local US mules are punished
West-African TV reports when arresting scammers were done when international TV teams were watching
EFCC does not reply scam victims
FBI does not reply scam victims
EFCC and FBI that do email scam victims are African impersonators who want more money

and that a few, but no more than the tip of the iceberg, of scammers are indeed prosecuted and jailed in Malaysia, Russia, Spain, UK or the Netherlands. And sometimes Ghana, Nigeria. Less than we would wish.

[sueellen100]

Thanks so much FrumpyBB!

I've gotten a few responses and they have been very interesting and insightful. It appears from my preliminary research (there are few academic articles out there on the topic) that there is very limited cross national cooperation between law enforcement agencies to crack down on these scammers because of the costs and lack of international networks to do so
I have another theory but I don't want to spill the beans because it might taint the results of the survey

Thanks again and my best wishes to everyone who has been hurt by these scammers!

[Pinky]

Is this a personal crusade? Have you experienced a love scam? Do you work in legal or political fields? Are you a student working on an assignment? Would you please provide a bit more information to your point and purpose?

[sueellen100]

Hi Pinky,
I'm a law student writing an essay/minor thesis on the topic, and I'm from Sydney, Australia. I chose to write about this because although these scams are becoming more prevalent and causing substantial emotional and financial damage, there are very few avenues that victims can pursue to achieve justice. I think there should also be alot more awareness about what is happening to prevent these scammers from hurting more victims, but also so that victims feel they are not alone (because from reading a few peoples experiences I understand it may be hard to tell family members what has happened). Looking at the legal options available for people from my country, it's really disappointing how few there are and how difficult it is to find information. I guess all these reasons contribute to why I chose to write about this.

I hope I don't come across as rude or intrusive, I am genuinely very interested in your stories and I really, really appreciate all the people that have taken the time to answer some of my questions, to lend me some insights into your experiences particularly as I understand how tough it could be to write about again.

[Pinky]

Likewise, I did not intend to be rude in asking. I fear working here as long as I have has jaded me with suspicion.

You have hit the target with your assessment of current legal avenues for victims. They are pathetically short and inefficient. If I can help in any way, please consider me on your team.