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Online-Dating Romance Scam in Malaysia: An Analysis of Online Conversations between Scammers and Victims

Shaari, AH. ; Kamaluddin, MR. ; Paizi@Fauzi, WF. ; Mohd, M. (2019) — GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies

DOI: 10.17576/gema-2019-1901-06
Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Malaysia
Tags:   online dating romance scam, Malaysia, deceptive language, persuasion, politeness strategies, content analysis, online conversations, financial requests

Synopsis (AI-Generated)

This qualitative content analysis used 60 authentic scam-chat sets supplied by Malaysian victims, 50 recruited through a Facebook research page and 10 through police collaboration; every participant had made at least one payment. All chats were used to map the scam process, and 30 complete-stage conversations received detailed linguistic analysis using politeness and scam-persuasion frameworks. The authors identify initial-contact, pre-attraction, and hooked stages. Offenders used religious and trust language, attraction, and attention before requesting gift-delivery fees or money for travel, immigration, accidents, illness, or other crises. At the payment stage, language shifted toward urgency, repeated demands, threats, and warnings. Purposive selection of paying victims and complete conversations excludes targets who disengaged earlier.

Identified Gaps (AI-Generated)

The paper identifies Malaysian online-dating romance-scam research as still nascent despite increasing cases. It notes that prior fraud research has focused more on phishing/Nigerian letters than mass-marketing fraud, including romance scams. The study also leaves local-accomplice phone interactions insufficiently examined because recordings were unavailable, limiting understanding of the third-party stage.

Methods (AI-Generated)

Qualitative content analysis followed Zhang and Wildemuth’s seven-step process. Researchers purposively gathered 60 authentic scam chat sets from Malaysian victims: 50 volunteers recruited through a Facebook research page and 10 through collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police CCID. All participants had experienced romance scams and made at least one payment. First-stage analysis of 60 chats mapped general scam stages and coding schemes; 30 chats from victims who completed all scam stages underwent detailed linguistic analysis using Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Model, alongside scam-persuasion frameworks.

Limitations (AI-Generated)

The detailed linguistic analysis included only 30 purposively selected conversations from victims who had completed all scam stages and made a payment, so it does not represent earlier-disengagement or non-paying targets. Analysis of local accomplices was incomplete because their interactions occurred by phone, often in local languages, and no victim retained recordings. The authors state that this third-party stage was beyond the study’s scope.

Future Work (AI-Generated)

Develop a web application that detects scam language and alerts users. Conduct correlational research on relationships among individuals’ language patterns, psychological attributes, and criminal behaviour in Malaysian romance-scam cases. The authors also anticipate that the findings can support authorities’ efforts to combat the crime and reduce victimisation.

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AI-Generated Content Notice

The synopsis and research notes on this page were generated with AI from available publication information and, when available, the uploaded paper text. They may contain errors, omissions, or interpretation issues. Readers should follow the DOI or source link, review the original publication, and make their own judgment about the content.

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