Globalization of trust and internet confidence emails
| Pages | 393-405 |
| Published date | 07 October 2013 |
| Date | 07 October 2013 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-05-2013-0038 |
| Author | Bistra Nikiforova,Deborah W. Gregory |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
Globalization of trust and internet
confidence emails
Bistra Nikiforova
Department of Arts and Communications, University of New England,
Biddeford, Maine, USA, and
Deborah W. Gregory
Department of Finance, Bentley University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to analyze Nigerian Letter scam emails in the context of processes of
globalization in order to understand how and why they continue to defraud people despite the
increased public awareness.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyses over 500 emails received in an institutional
email box over a nine-year period. Distinct rhetorical strategies for conveying trust and reputation
were identified as indicators of the global connectedness of scammers and their victims.
Findings – Scammers from Third World countries and their First World victims share similar
perceptions of trust and business reputation due to the global financial flows and transnational
movement of people and labour, which is strengthened by the internet. They have transformed the
rhetorical elements that establish trust and reputation within the Western rational context and imbued
them with new value meanings intended to defraud their victims.
Originality/value – This paper is the first to interpret the success of Nigerian Letter scams as a
product of processes that go beyond scammers’ and their victims’ social and political realities. It is
valuable for crime-fighting organizations because it accounts not only for the rhetorical strategies used
by the scammers but also for the underlying context that enables the spread and success of the online
Confidence Letter scams.
Keywords Advanced fee fraud,Globalization of trust, NigerianLetter scams, Online fraud,
Trust and reputationonline, National states
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
“Good day, I wish to approach you with a request that would be of immense benefit to
both of us”, begins a typical email scam letter thatwill provide the sender with a stream
of income sent by a unknown victim. News stories enumerate the plight of victims:
a family in Connecticut lost $71,578, an attorney from Texas defrauded of $185,500,
individuals in NewZealand were out $800,000, Bank Noroestein Brazil lost $242 million
to scammers, causing closure of the bank. The common thread in these stories is the
belief of people answering the emails that they were engaged in financial transactions
with credible businessmen and institutions from around the globe. Scammers succeeded
in creating the illusionof inclusion in global financial flows (Appadurai,1990) with their
fluency in the languageof international business and parlayed thatskill to create a sense
of trust in their victims.
Confidence letters addressed to unknown recipients have been a medium for
conducting fraudulent financial activities for centuries. They have withstood the test of
time, successfully surviving the transition from postal letters to the internet, continuing
to entice unsuspecting victims to send money. A subset of advance fee fraud scams,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1359-0790.htm
Journal of Financial Crime
Vol. 20 No. 4, 2013
pp. 393-405
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-05-2013-0038
Globalization
of trust and
internet
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