“We are a mutual fund:” how Ponzi scheme operators in Nigeria apply indexical markers to shield deception and fraud on their websites

Chiluwa, Isioma M.; Chiluwa, Innocent

doi:10.1080/10350330.2020.1766269

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In the field of linguistics, studies have been undertaken on language used in scam messages. These studies focused on Nigerian linguistic features (Haruna, 2016;Buhari, 2017;Asfer & Bairmani, 2021), persuasive strategies (Schaffer, 2012;Chilua, 2009Chilua, , 2010Annadorai, Krish, Shaari and Kamaluddin, 2018), Discourse strategies (Taiwo, 2012;Chiluwa, Chiluwa & Ajiboye, 2022) and slangy expressions (Oni & Oke, 2010;Ajayi, 2019) used by Nigerian internet Scamsters in scam emails. Those below are just a few of the relevant ones.…”

Section: Previous Studies and Statement Of The Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of Nigerian Internet Scamsters in selected Nigerian and International News Reports

Olawe¹

2023

BJMAS

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Linguistic studies on Nigerian internet scamsters have dwelt on the aspects of language use. These studies focused on the linguistic features, slangy expressions, discourse and persuasive strategies used by scamsters in scam messages. However, the aspect of media representation of the social actors of Nigerian internet fraud has not been given adequate attention. This study, therefore, explores the representation of social actors of Nigerian internet fraud in Nigerian and international news reports. Headlines and news contents are purposively sampled from forty-five news articles published between 2019 and 2021, from two Nigerian newspapers and two international news media. Guided by Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) and Van Leeuwen’s early work on social actor representation (1996), ten forms of representations were identified. Nigerian Internet Scamsters were represented as educated, role models, imposters, parentally supported, abductors, wrong ambassadors/negative nationals, friends to the security agents, desperate/money ritualists, guilty and convicted, exploiters and victimizers. The negative connotation of these labels indicates that the media are not neutral in their representation of scammers. This study shows that the representation of the social actions and actors in internet fraud are linguistically and discursively framed to fit their ideology.

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Section: Previous Studies and Statement Of The Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of Nigerian Internet Scamsters in selected Nigerian and International News Reports

Olawe¹

2023

BJMAS

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“…For another, drawing on critical discourse analysis, some scholars explored the local social and cultural factors woven within some particular fraud types, which showed the close relationship between cultural and linguistic competence. Chiluwa and Chiluwa (2020) found that the index in Nigerian Ponzi fraud websites adapted to the country’s religious values, national values, and social customs. Ye and Duan (2020) pointed out that the prevalence of “Butcher Scam” (China’s typical online romance scam) relies to some extent on the social and family pressure borne by the unrealistic selecting criteria for spouses in the society.…”

Section: Literature Review: Telecom Fraudsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on the discourse strategy of telecommunication fraud based on proximization theory

Chen

2022

Discourse & Communication

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Drawing on the proximization theory, this study investigated the characteristics and expected effects of proximization strategies in the discourse of telecommunication fraud through the textual analysis of samples selected among 2738 fraudulent texts. The results demonstrated a dominant use of spatial proximization strategy, which imitated the main features of institutional discourse to establish a community of interest with the recipients. Moreover, the use of various verb phrases made the recipients feel the imminence of threats or benefits. Additionally, the urgency and importance of the event created by the temporal proximization strategy also served to establish a cooperative relationship between the fraudsters and the recipients. The axiological proximization strategy served as a complementary tool to facilitate the realization of the above two strategies. This study could help with the identification of fraudulent content in texts and the creative production of the anti-fraud materials.

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“…Profiting from a legal void and investor enthusiasm, it promised 30% return on investment. Such schemes mimic stokvels, with MMM describing the operation as a "mutual aid fund where ordinary people help each other" to lure and defraud clients (Chiluwa & Chiluwa, 2020). The scheme was eventually banned by South African regulators, but not before causing harm to vulnerable investors.…”

Section: Stokvels (South Africa)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Financialization and Sustainable Credit: Lessons from Non-Intermediated Transactions?

Svetiev

Dermineur²,

Kolanisi³

2022

J Consum Policy

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Does increasing access to finance promote human flourishing? And if so, are there pathways to sustainable credit and finance in the face of the perceived excesses of financialization? Can we reform or regulate the financial sector to promote sustainable credit and avoid over-indebtedness? These and similar questions have attracted considerable scholarly and public debate in the aftermath of the 2007 global financial crisis, with a growing focus on institutional alternatives to market exchange in finance and beyond. In this article, we study the persistence of non-intermediated credit, whereby lenders and borrowers engage in transactions directly and without financial intermediaries. Peer lending was a mainstay source of credit prior to the emergence of financial intermediaries and our benchmark case study outlines common features of credit relationships before modern banking in Europe. The other two case studies come from jurisdictions where non-intermediated credit persists on a broad scale, despite parties having formal access to modern finance. The aim of our contribution is threefold. First, we identify features of non-intermediated transactions that are consistent with a notion of sustainable credit, in the sense that they are not destabilising for the transacting parties (or the broader community). Secondly, we highlight the normative mechanisms that support non-intermediated credit across different settings to identify the scope conditions and limits for such transactions. Third, we evaluate such credit transactions along a set of normative benchmarks to draw out lessons for contemporary finance and financial regulation. We argue that even if non-intermediated credit cannot provide an alternative to modern finance, such transactions can help financial institutions tailor products to the needs of specific consumers or outsource credit assessment and repayment, while also allowing policymakers and regulators to identify and resolve concrete credit access problems for disadvantaged communities.

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“We are a mutual fund:” how Ponzi scheme operators in Nigeria apply indexical markers to shield deception and fraud on their websites

Cited by 13 publications

References 23 publications

Representation of Nigerian Internet Scamsters in selected Nigerian and International News Reports

Representation of Nigerian Internet Scamsters in selected Nigerian and International News Reports

A study on the discourse strategy of telecommunication fraud based on proximization theory

Financialization and Sustainable Credit: Lessons from Non-Intermediated Transactions?

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