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Discursive-manipulative strategies in scam emails and SMS: The Nigerian perspective

  • Temitope Michael Ajayi

    Temitope Michael Ajayi, PhD, teaches in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan. He is a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, US; and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. He has published his articles in reputable journals and books in and outside Nigeria.

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Published/Copyright: October 20, 2022

Abstract

Cyber scam, a subculture in Nigeria, especially among youths, has been under-investigated from the linguistic perspective. This study thus explores discursive-manipulative strategies in scam emails and SMS/messages in Nigeria, drawing samples from a corpus of over 200 emails and 50 SMS documented between 2018 and 2022. With insights from Brown and Levinson’s face, Mey’s pragmatic act and McCronack’s information manipulation theories, it is observed that discursive manipulative strategies such as positive and negative false alarm, self-denigration, formulaic, and evocation of theistic and religious context project the Nigerian realities in scam emails and SMS. Embedded in these manipulative strategies are face-saving and face-threatening acts strategically woven round the violation of the maxims of quality and quantity.


Department of Linguistics and African Languages University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria


About the author

Temitope Michael Ajayi

Temitope Michael Ajayi, PhD, teaches in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan. He is a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies, US; and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. He has published his articles in reputable journals and books in and outside Nigeria.

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Published Online: 2022-10-20
Published in Print: 2022-05-25

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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