‘I’m Sister Maria. Please help me’: A lexical study of 4-1-9 international advance fee fraud email communications

Abstract

4-1-9 is a multi-billion-dollar international email scam that is believed to have originated from Nigeria. This study examines the framing of email communications used in this fraud and content-analyzes their lexical features. Findings indicate that the scammers used Realism as the main persuasive lexical characteristic in the messages, that is, language that suggests meeting tangible needs in people’s everyday lives. The scammers also framed their messages as ‘business’ proposals to disguise their fraudulent tactics and plans. But while the scam may have originated from Nigeria, it appears that it may no longer be operationally restricted to that country.