Scams and Counter-Scams: An Investigation Into the Deception Tactics of Phone Scammers and Scambaiters

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the techniques that scammers and scambaiters use in phone conversations to deceive each other and accomplish their respective goals. Seeing how the number of people losing money to scams continues to rise every year, there is an urgent need for more research to raise awareness of common scam tactics. It is also highly sociologically relevant to gain an understanding of the phenomenon of deception, and the techniques used. Goffman’s theoretical framework and Christie’s concept of the ideal victim is utilized to gain an understanding of the performances that scammers and scambaiters partake in, as well as how scambaiters portray themselves as victims. The material used in this thesis consists of ten scambaiting YouTube videos, as well as scam descriptions from online forums. A narrative thematic content analysis is then used to analyze the material. The main findings suggest that the scammers in the videos perform as professional customer support- or technical support workers by using tactics such as flattery, intimidation, and trusting relationships. This puts an expectation on the “victims” to respond appropriately. Moreover, they use impression management to save the show from disruptions and control the manner in which they are portrayed. The scambaiters in the videos commonly play the roles of old, naïve, and un-technological men or women. Although they by Christie’s definition cannot be perceived as ideal victims, the roles which the scambaiters play possess multiple of the attributes associated with ideal victimhood. Furthermore, the scambaiters’ performances contain a comedy factor, which aims to entertain their audiences while making the scammers lose face.