Move analysis of fraud in a mediated online transaction

Abstract

The fraud genre is executed through the use of language that can deceive victims, enabling scammers to control conversations and guide victims into complying with the scammer’s intentions. This research aims to identify rhetorical moves and linguistic features used by scammers during mediated online transactions on social media. The data used in this study consists of nine conversation transcripts between scammers and victims during the process of selling online game account data through social media. The classification of moves and strategies is an ongoing process throughout the analysis. The analysis results identified 4 moves and 17 strategies employed by scammers in fraudulent transactions involving the sale of online game account data. Strategy 5 – Insisting on using a recommended middleman from the buyer is identified as a strategy that can indicate the potential for fraud in the mediated online transaction process.