Persuasion strategies: use of negative forces in scam e-mails
The 21st century globalisation strongly influences the world as a result of highly improved technology and communications which made it possible for everyone involved to have equal access to a global market and information exchange via English. As a result, electronic communication has become par...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2016
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10133/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10133/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10133/1/10325-33377-1-PB.pdf |
| Summary: | The 21st century globalisation strongly influences the world as a result of highly improved
technology and communications which made it possible for everyone involved to have equal
access to a global market and information exchange via English. As a result,
electronic communication has become part of the present-day multinational professionals of
all fields who work daily in front of their digital monitors. At times, these professionals may
receive Nigerian 419 scam e-mails in which fraudsters target victims to
make advance payments for financial gains that do not materialise. In these e-mails,
situations in which persuasion techniques are intertwined are well crafted. As a result, the
victim who is susceptible to the offer is more likely to respond and be lured into losing
money eventually. The present study, consequently, analysed a corpus of 50 Nigerian 419
scam e-mails through a textual analysis to examine language aspects in terms of persuasion
strategies fraudsters used as a compelling force to achieve their communicative purposes of
lures and deceits. The study has revealed two major types of deceptive techniques which are
used in combination, namely framing-rhetoric triggers, disguised as the traditional genre of
electronic communications and human weakness-exploiting triggers, intended as incitement
of recipients' emotions. Finally, the paper includes not only pedagogical suggestions for
business English teachers when implementing classroom activities, but also warnings for
either pre-experienced or experienced business professionals in relation to interpreting the
unknown e-mails' messages they receive with great caution. |
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