A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF PHISHING MESSAGES IN NIGERIAN WHATSAPP SCAMS
Keywords:
stylistics, phishing messages, manipulative language, lexical choices, grammatical structures, figures of speechAbstract
This study conducted a stylistic analysis of manipulative language in phishing messages circulated among online fraudsters on WhatsApp in Nigeria. Phishing is one of the most alarming problems in contemporary digital communication, and the evidence for its scale in Nigeria is considerable. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology focusing on content analysis, combining the stylistic model of Leech and Short (2007) with the rhetorical framework adapted by Hoyland (2001). Ten phishing messages collected from WhatsApp between 2022 and 2025 were purposively sampled and analysed for their linguistic and stylistic features. The analysis found that fraudsters draw on carefully selected lexical items from specific semantic fields to create trustworthiness, urgency, and desire. Grammatically, the messages combine declarative statements, imperative commands, strategic tense choices, and deliberate departures from Standard English to compel a response. Rhetorically, the messages employ appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos, often reinforced by figures of speech such as personification, hyperbole, and direct address. The study concludes that online fraudsters function as skilled and ethically corrupt stylists who exploit linguistic convention, symbolism, institutional credibility, and human vulnerability to achieve their fraudulent ends. It is recommended that telecom regulators, cybersecurity educators, and digital literacy programmes draw on these stylistic patterns to strengthen public awareness and improve the detection of WhatsApp-based phishing messages.
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