The womanizer seduces, convinces, and manipulates.
“I’m running out of credit and won’t be able to talk to my sweetheart tonight” may seem like a romantic gesture, but behind it, hides a love scammer who masters the art of language and whose tricks convince innocent victims in search of love.
Love Scams focuses on analyzing the language used by scammers from the moment they first contact the victim to when they finally discover the lies — which can take months or even years. Scammers move from promises of love to verbal and, in some cases, physical violence. Anyone, no matter how confident they are, can become a victim of these types of tricks.
The author, Sheila Queralt, describes the linguistic modus operandi of the scammers and what they do to achieve their objectives: the initial seduction, the unravelling of the truth, the conflict, and the escape. The book is an insight into the linguistic strategies used by the four best-known “love scammers” in Spain, whose preys are women: Albert Cavallé, Francisco Manzanares, Rodrigo Nogueira, and Carmelo Hernando Matute.
These scammers tend to be narcissistic, and, once they are discovered, they try to blame the victim and play victim themselves, and all their scams always follow the same pattern in which the victim believes they have control when it is all an illusion.
Many love scammers try to prevent their “prey” from talking to their relatives and friends about the requests for money and favors they make. They even try to isolate them completely if their environment warns them that something is not right.
How do they seduce their victims? How do they scam them? How do they react when the victim suspects their true intentions? All in all, how do these criminals get away with it? And what about the victims? What are the consequences of this type of crime that goes far beyond mere financial fraud? Why do so many not report these crimes? These are just some of the questions that Love Scams tries to answer.
RELEVANT INFORMATION: Love Scams is a non-fiction book based on real cases and scams. Its author, Sheila Queralt, is one of the most important forensic linguists in Spain, who has studied and compiled exclusive material from more than 40 victims of love scams.
The book could serve as a framework for developing a procedural thriller that narrates the adventures of a forensic linguist who must solve different cases of love scams based on real events.
With online dating, it is increasingly common to know someone who has been scammed via emails, WhatsApp or Social Media, so the audience can easily relate to what this book portrays.
Dr. Sheila Queralt has collaborated with several police departments in Spain and abroad as an expert in linguistics, and she has received several awards in her field.
What the critics have said about the author and her book:
“Sheila Queralt is the founder of a successful laboratory that analyzes language for judicial, police, and private processes.” El País
“The text seeks to generate greater empathy with the victims and alert society of the dangers of being scammed.” La Vanguardia
“The book is not only a self-defense guide for people who practice online dating, but also a wake-up call about the misogyny that surrounds these types of scams.” Crónica Global
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Film, TV Movie.
LANGUAGES AVAILABLE: Spanish.
Adquirir los derechos
Para ponerte en contacto con nosotros completa el siguiente formulario y te responderemos en breve.
