A study on the discourse strategy of telecommunication fraud based on proximization theory

Drawing on the proximization theory, this study investigated the characteristics and expected effects of proximization strategies in the discourse of telecommunication fraud through the textual analysis of samples selected among 2738 fraudulent texts. The results demonstrated a dominant use of spatial proximization strategy, which imitated the main features of institutional discourse to establish a community of interest with the recipients. Moreover, the use of various verb phrases made the recipients feel the imminence of threats or benefits. Additionally, the urgency and importance of the event created by the temporal proximization strategy also served to establish a cooperative relationship between the fraudsters and the recipients. The axiological proximization strategy served as a complementary tool to facilitate the realization of the above two strategies. This study could help with the identification of fraudulent content in texts and the creative production of the anti-fraud materials.