A seminar sponsored by Norsk Medieforskerlag and organized by the Research Group for rhetoric, Democracy and Public Culture at Department of information Science and Media Studies
How do fraudsters scam ordinary people online? What are the rhetorical strategies they employ? And how may we combat such fraud and scam? In this half-day-seminar esteemed scholars and practitioners explore fraud-discourses and discuss how we can counter the rhetoric of the scammers. The seminar addresses persuasive language in scamming, rhetorical strategies for countering fraud in practice, and the affordances of media and technology involved in scamming and anti-scamming.
The seminar is part of the development of a project examining the rhetoric of fraud and scams by studying the rhetorical strategies of scamming, including the construction of ethos and relationships, the impersonation of public and private institutions, and the interplay of ethos credibility as it exists between scammer, anti-scammer, and social media audiences. The project will examine the use of persuasive rhetoric, emotional appeals, trust-building, and crafted narratives to deceive victims through media and technological affordances. We also examine the rhetorical strategies and campaigns attempting to counter fraud and scam as they are done by banks, police and civil organizations.
Registration
The seminar is open to everyone interested.
You can attend live at the University of Bergen or follow online on Zoom
If you wish to attend the meeting live (not online), then please register by sending an email to Olivia.Akerholm@student.uib.no. You are welcome to participate even if you haven’t registered.
Programme
13.00-13.20: Introduction to research in online fraud and scam. By Jens E. Kjeldsen, University of Bergen.
13.20-13.50: Experiences with fraud and scam in the banking sector. By Hans Jacob Fevang, Sparebanken Norge, Bergen.
Since the early 2020s, digital fraud has escalated exponentially across the globe. Because of the high digitalization in the Nordic banking sector, our customers has become prime targets for scammers both foreign and domestic. Hans Jacob Fevang works as a fraud-specialist in Sparebanken Norge and will take you behind the scenes and talk about how the banking sector in the Nordics work together to combat online fraud
13.50-14.00: Break
14.00-14.30: Police investigating and battling of fraud and scam. By Jon Andre Hvoslef, Økokrim, Oslo.
Digital fraud is an escalating threat to the Norwegian society. Jon Andre Hvoslef-Eide, Public Prosecutor at Økokrim, works with a newly established unit dedicated to investigating and preventing digital fraud. The presentation will outline the current threats and trends of digital fraud, and how criminal networks exploit advanced technology in order to finance illegal activities with proceeds from fraud. The presentation will discuss some of the concrete actions taken by Økokrim to fight back against digital fraud.
14.30-15.00: Challenging the Shame: Rethinking Public Rhetoric in the Fight Against Fraud. By Sine Gregersen, Centre against Economic IT-Fraud, Copenhagen.
Romance fraud, investment fraud, and other forms of social engineering fraud are serious crimes that rob people of their money, trust—and in the worst cases, their lives. At the Centre Against Economic IT-Fraud (COIS), we support victims and their relatives—and work to challenge the public rhetoric that too often traps victims in shame and silence. Many blame themselves, asking, “How could I be so stupid?”—a reflection of broader cultural narratives. This talk explores how empathetic, stigma-free and responsibility-focused communication can shift the blame from victim to perpetrator, help prevent future fraud, and ensure better support for those already affected.
15.00-15.10: Break
15.10-15.30: Technological Affordances in Online Scams: A Rhetorical Perspective. By Aaron Hess, Arizona State University, USA (Online talk).
Modern day scams are largely facilitated through technology and especially digital technology. In media studies, the concept of technological affordances explains how perceived possibilities for action within technological systems influence our use of technology. In other words, technological affordances are those things that we can and cannot do with technology. In scams, perpetrators use technology to rhetorically craft their credibility with victims through specific uses and manipulations of technological platforms, including social media, text messages, and fraudulent apps. In this presentation, I outline how a technological and rhetorical perspective on affordances can illuminate how technology assists scammers and how attention to affordances opens possibilities to combat scams.
15.30-16.30: Romance fraud behind the scenes: the language of manipulation. By Elisabeth Carter, Kingston University London.
In this talk, Dr Elisabeth Carter explores romance fraud in action using real interactions between criminals and victims, dissecting the language to reveal the manipulation behind the mask. Elisabeth draws on critical discourse analysis and conversation analytic principles to explore how fraud criminals establish and maintain the illusion of rapport, legitimacy and credibility. She will expose the balance fraudsters tread between appearing credible and attempting to coerce and defraud without causing alarm, and the direct threats delivered once the romance has ended; exploiting previously obtained intimate communications to engage in sextortion and continue the financial destruction of the victim.
