The breakthrough of technological innovation especially the Internet has given rise to cybercrime and the danger of this digital interaction has opened the floodgates of online dating romance scams. Online dating romance scam is described as a specific type of mass marketing or advance fee fraud where scammers pretend to initiate a relationship through online networking sites by using fictitious identities, with the hope of swindling money from victims. Online dating romance scam has far-reaching impacts on the victims who not only have to deal with financial losses but also suffer from negative emotions and non-performance in daily life. What is not clear, is why and how these victims are not doubtful of the illusionary promises made by the scammers. This paper discusses relevant theories which attempt to identify and explore the persuasive strategies and linguistic features used in online dating romance scams. By exploring these strategies and features, the paper will elicit plausible reasons behind this scam and establish the linguistic patterns used by the scammers. 
 
Keywords: online dating romance scam, cybercrime, persuasive strategies, linguistic features, computer mediated communication 
 The breakthrough of technological innovation especially the Internet has given rise to cybercrime and the danger of this digital interaction has opened the floodgates of online dating romance scams. Online dating romance scam is described as a specific type of mass marketing or advance fee fraud where scammers pretend to initiate a relationship through online networking sites by using fictitious identities, with the hope of swindling money from victims. Online dating romance scam has far-reaching impacts on the victims who not only have to deal with financial losses but also suffer from negative emotions and non-performance in daily life. What is not clear, is why and how these victims are not doubtful of the illusionary promises made by the scammers. This paper discusses relevant theories which attempt to identify and explore the persuasive strategies and linguistic features used in online dating romance scams. By exploring these strategies and features, the paper will elicit plausible reasons behind this scam and establish the linguistic patterns used by the scammers. 
 
Keywords: online dating romance scam, cybercrime, persuasive strategies, linguistic features, computer mediated communication