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Conversational Analysis of Scam Calls in Nigeria 

. 

Adaobi Ifeoma Ik-Iloanusi1  Onyinye Anulika Chiemezie2 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. 

ai.ik-iloanusi@unizik.edu.ng1 oa.chiemezie@unizik.edu.ng2 

 

 

Abstract 

Insecurity in communities can be classified following the attitude 

and response of the community members in the evolving crime 

strategies employed by miscreants every day. Existing literature 

attest that scam call is a phenomenon prevalent in Nigeria, which 

harasses the financial security, and resources of the people. This 

study is geared towards analyzing the contextual cues evident in 

these calls, bringing out the perceived behaviors that portray the 

luring of the receiver and/or the pragmatic lapses of the caller that 

gives him away as a fraud. Ten scam call audio clips, adopted from 

individuals and social platforms were used. Jefferson’s 

transcription model and Sacks’ conversational analysis theory are 

adopted for this research. The researchers assert that scam calls 

come in different manifestations. The results show that while the 

callers adopt luring cues such as presenting supposed vulnerable 

financial situation of the caller’s account, pleasantness, assurance 

to solve posed problems, mentioning callers full name and prying 

cues such as asking for tokens and codes; the receiver recognizes 

fraudulent moves like skipping vital information, ignoring or 

rushing over questions from the receiver, insistence on a particular 

code/pin, impatience perceived when the receiver delays to respond. 

The responses swayed from that of devastated victims, vulnerable 

targets to highly secured targets who are so confident to play along 

with fraud calls or switch roles in the fraud game. The study 

mailto:ai.ik-iloanusi@unizik.edu.ng
mailto:oa.chiemezie@unizik.edu.ng


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recommends that the linguistic cues harnessed scam calls  and other 

insecurity manifestations be provided in the content of  media jingles 

for awareness against scam calls and insecurity to reduce the rate 

of vulnerability of the Nigerian citizens. 

Keywords: conversational analysis, linguistic cues, scam calls, 

Nigeria.  

 

1. Introduction  

In Nigeria, crime and insecurity has been a notable issue over the 

years. Sadly, the government has done little or nothing to curb this 

menace completely, as it has become an unquenchable challenge, 

sprouting into different facets. The rate at which this menace has 

eaten deep into our country is quite alarming, thereby contradicting 

section 14(2) (b) of the Nigerian 1999 constitution which clearly 

states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the 

primary purpose of the government”. 

 Defining human security, The United Nations Development 

Programme (1994) opine that human security is the protection from 

hidden and hurtful disruptions in the daily activities, at homes, 

offices, or communities. Thus, explaining security as that which 

simply means the freedom from threat and danger. This issue of 

security includes but not limited to safe keeping of lives as 

properties and material resources are also involved. Supporting this 

claim, Akin (2008) states that security is seen as any laid down 

procedures geared towards the protection of person and property 

against hostile individuals. It is no longer news that quality security 

guarantees and reassures citizens of their safety. In this stead, 

Coupland (2007) is of the opinion that insecurity has an extensive 

impact on people’s lives and well-being and for this striking reason, 



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the government has an obligation to live up to its responsibility of 

guaranteeing security.  

Generally, on insecurity, a wealth of materials already exists. 

However, this paper focuses on the insecurity that borders on scam 

calls and scam in general. Scams are deceptive schemes intended to 

defraud individuals or organizations and has gained significant 

attention due to their increasing prevalence and detrimental impact 

on society. There are various types of scams that have emerged in 

recent years, such as phishing scams, advance fee frauds, identity 

theft, pyramid schemes, online auction frauds, scam calls, etc. Each 

type of fraud has its unique characteristics and strategies, employed 

by scammers in order to succeed. For instance, Advance fee frauds 

often known as “419 scams” involve promising huge sums of money 

in exchange for ahead of time/ upfront payments (Holt, 2016). 

Discussing phishing scam, Wang et al (2018) define phishing scam 

as an attempt by scammers to obtain sensitive information. 

According to Kshetri (2017) identity theft is a situation where 

personal information is stolen for fraudulent purposes.  

 Lage and Jackson (2017:4) opine that “scam calls are used 

by fraudsters to con someone out of their money or obtain their 

personal information to commit fraud. The deception can range from 

pretending to be your bank, to selling you goods or services that are 

fake, or you will never receive”. The focus of it all, being to obtain 

money or information under false pretence or deception.  

Most at times, old people seem to be the primary target of 

these fraudsters. According to (Lage and Jackson 2017: 6), “whilst 

we are all susceptible to scam calls, figures from National Trading 

Standards show that older people are being deliberately targeted, 

more so than other demographics” These fraudsters capitalize on the 

fact that older people are usually vulnerable, and most of the time, 

they suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, dwindling 



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memory and cognitive impairment in general. Also, the fact that 

elderly people are technologically unaware, digitally debarred, often 

alone, and are privileged to have money and assets at their disposal, 

has made them more liable to be scammed. 

Ordinary conversation is the most basic form of talk. This 

basic form of talk accounts for mainstream negotiation, interaction 

and information connectivity. Call scam has been perpetuated using 

conversational strategy and manipulations. A pragmatic analysis of 

such call scams would be to relate practical or contextual indices 

that are employed. These indices will help the researchers interpret 

the level of decadence in issues of insecurity in Nigeria. 

1.1 Expressions Connected with Scam 
As the use of technology advances, scammers become more savvy 

and tech – efficient, thereby improving their skills on how to catch 

their unsuspecting targets off guard and also mount undue pressure 

that will push them into making hasty and regrettable decisions that 

will eventually turn them into victims. Below are some of the 

commonly used terms and their meaning culled from Waugh (2021). 

Some bloggers’ site and interview sessions with some of our 

students are presented under four categories.  

1.1.1 Scam Activity Expressions 
a) Call spoofing: when a scammer deliberately falsifies the 

information or the identity that appears on the targeted 

victim’s phone caller ID in order to disguise their true 

identity, and appear as someone familiar to the target, or 

some representative of a known service provider company, 

for the purpose of scamming the target, it is called call 

spoofing.  

b) Skimming: this fraud is perpetrated by scammers, using a 

device called skimmer. The skimmer device is attached to 

automated teller machines and point of sale systems in 



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public places like the fuel stations, parks, markets, etc. in 

order to extract information on the credit card’s magnetic 

strip which fraudulently pilfers the information in a credit 

card chip for their dubious use. 

c) Hacking: in recent times, with the increase in fraudulent 

activities, hacking has become one of the most popular 

words in use. It is the unauthorized access to phones, tablets, 

computers and other devices with the aim of accessing 

information for illicit purposes.  

d) Mail fraud: this is also called wire fraud in some places like 

the United States of America. Scammers send fraudulent 

emails to their targets, intentionally disguised as government 

issued mails, mails from reputable companies, schools, 

immigration, etc. with the sole intention to defraud the target 

of either money or vital information needed for other 

fraudulent activities.  

e) Identity theft: this scam involves stealing of another’s 

personal information like their credit card number, name, 

license, identity card number and others to commit fraud 

against the owner using the stolen details. 

f) Smishing: this is a fraudulent practice of sending text 

messages also known as SMS (short message service) to 

unsuspecting targets. Since caller ID’s are easily spoofed, 

such text messages appear to come from trustworthy sources 

or mistaken to be from the person whose phone caller id has 

been spoofed. 

g) Robocall: an automated / recorded telephone calls or 

messages impersonating a human caller.  

h) Wire or money transfer: oftentimes, scammers hack into 

people’s phones, thereby gaining access to their personal 

information, phone contacts inclusive. They proceed by 



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sending messages to the victim’s contacts and acting like the 

owner of the device, they try to convince the targets to send 

them money through a wire or money transfer means. 

Sometimes, they cook up stories and make it sound like the 

real owner of the device is in trouble or has an emergency 

and need help with funds transfer.  

      1.1.2 Expressions that Describe Scammers 

There are many other names used for scammers across the globe. It 

is well known that scammers are called names like fraudsters, 

swindlers, tricksters, con artists, defrauders, sham, imposters, 

rogues, fake, etc. in Nigeria particularly, these fraudsters are 

identified with names like; 

i) Yahoo boys/ G boys: this name signifies or identifies the 

bearer(s) as a scammer. It is the number 1 nickname for 

scammers in Nigeria. The name originated from the use of 

yahoo messenger to scam people back in the days. 

j) Yahoo plus: this is an upgraded version of the yahoo boys, 

because the scammers in this category are not ordinary 

scammers, rather they are those ones who believe in the use 

of charms and magical powers for protection and to charm 

their targets.   

k) Azaman: a name coined from the frequent use of the word 

Aza which means account number. Because of their lavish 

and non-prudent lifestyle, scammers are known for how they 

spend lavishly. Therefore, an Azaman is a scammer with a 

lot of money to throw around. and does not hesitate to ask 

for account number for quick giveaway.  

l) Homeboys: a homeboy is a scammer still under training. 

Homeboys are used for those still learning the process to 



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become well trained scammers. They are also known as 

fraud apprentice. 

1.1.3 Expressions that Describe Scam Victims 
Just like the scammers have different names, there are also 

names for the victims. 

m) Mgbada: mgbada is an Igbo name for deer which is usually 

a prey for hunters. In the same vein, the name mgbada 

translates into an identity for scam victims especially in 

Nigeria.  

n) Fools: once a scammer gains access to the identity of a large 

group of people, these people are labelled fools by the 

scammer. 

o) Maga /Mugu: this is a name given to a male foreigner who 

is being scammed and deceived into believing he is involved 

in a romantic chat with a beautiful girl without having the 

slightest idea he possibly chatting with a boy somewhere 

within Nigeria. The term maga/mugu means a senseless or 

foolish person. It has also extended to local victims. 

1.1.4 Expressions Typically Used by Scammers 

p) Format: scammers have an arranged manner or pattern 

which they use in sending emails, text messages and even 

calls to their targets. Their modus operandi is known as 

format.  

q) Legit: this means legitimate. Just some other words, this is 

not restricted to scammers alone, but they use it to confirm 

the authenticity of information given about a target. 

Information or details about a target is legit when it is 

legitimate or confirmed to be true.  

r) Picker: a picker is someone whose account has been 

provided for use, especially for foreign fraudulent 



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transactions. Proceeds from these scams are deposited into 

the account provided by the picker. 

s) Wayawaya: this is the term used by scammers to discuss 

money coming from their foreign victims. Once 

wayawaya(wire) is mentioned by someone who doesn’t have 

any legitimate business abroad or family members outside 

the country to send (wire) money, it is most likely 

suspectable such a person is into fraud or a scammer 

t) Aza: aza is a slang which has become a part of the Nigerian 

vocabulary. It simply means account number. Scammers and 

fraudsters use this term a lot even though the use of the word 

aza is not restricted to scammers alone.  

u) Grinding: grinding is a general term for hustling or working 

hard. Scammers also use it to express the level of hard work 

they put into getting their format right and the sleepless 

nights they experience especially when they have a target 

who resides in a country with a different time zone. This so-

called hard work is what they refer to as grinding. 

v) Opata: this term is used to express that a discussion is 

rubbish or nonsense. In other words, when a target is saying 

something that is out of line or different from what the 

scammers expect to hear, they call it “opata” which simply 

means the target is talking rubbish, trash or nonsense. 

        w) Bad market: not all experiences with their targets go well or 

yield money. A times, they encounter targets who are aware 

of their plans to scam them, and those type of encounter may 

seem rough and not so smooth and may lead the abortion of 

a laid down plan or format. Cases like these are referred to 

as bad market, failed venture or an unsuccessful move.  

x) Shaye: shaye is a Nigerian term which means to live life. 

Scammers also use it to express the need to have fun, party 



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or club. It is not associated with scam or fraud, and its usage 

is not restricted to scammers or fraudsters. However, 

because they live a lavish lifestyle, always partying and 

clubbing it’s as if the word “shaye” is mostly heard from 

them.  

y) Eke: eke has become a name commonly used by people on 

the streets or hustlers. Eke is a term used for the Nigerian police, 

and scammers use this name a lot whenever they talk about the 

police. Scammers are fraudsters, so they use this name to alert 

their members and inform them of the presence of the police 

without mentioning the name police.  

 z) Hk: this is a term for headquarters. Their headquarters is 

usually a place they converge to do their fraudulent business. 

Most times, these scammers gather at a place to perpetrate their 

act.  

Conversational analysis (CA) focuses on the study of human social 

interaction. This study of social interaction started from the lectures 

and writings of the late Harvey sacks in the 1960’s. Later in the 

1960’s and early 1970’s, a consolidation in his collaboration with 

Emmanuel Schegloff and Gail Jefferson was made. Conversational 

analysis is considered as the study of talk in interaction and other 

forms of human conduct in interaction other talk, for instance, body 

language, gesture, gaze, etc. (Sidnell, 2010). During a conversation, 

which is a social way of using language with other people, there are 

concepts to be noted. Sacks et al (1974) highlights three basic 

elements of conversation, the turn taking, adjacency pair, and 

sequential implicativeness. The basic unit of the conversation is the 

‘turn’, which means, a shift in the direction of the speaking ‘flow’ 

which is characteristic of normal conversation. Moreover, in 

normal, civilized, western – type conversation, people involved in 

the conversation, or conversationalists do not speak at the same 



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time, they wait and take ‘turns’ showing that not more than one 

person talks at a time (Sacks,1995). The term Adjacency pairs, refers 

to an order involving two related utterances is made by two 

speakers. For instance, if Speaker A asks, “how do you do?” a 

response of “I am doing great” is expected from Speaker B. Thus, 

in adjacency pair, the creation of an utterance from one speaker, 

meets with an acknowledging response from the second speaker. 

Example, a complain meets with an apology, a greeting with a 

greeting, a question with an answer, etc. finally, sequential 

implicativeness focuses on the speaker’s ability to make 

contributions based on the existing understanding of the 

conversation on ground. A speaker can make input in a conversation 

by showing the understanding gained from the previous turn, and 

divulge their expectation concerning the next turn. Conversational 

analysis theory forms the basis of this study as it best addresses the 

issues of scam calls raised in this paper.  

2. Studies on Cybercrime and Scamming 

Ibikunle and Odunayo (2013) and Makeri (2017) worked on the 

challenges facing cyber security in Nigeria with focus on reasons for 

cybercrime and ways to ensure cyber security. He gave seven 

categories of cybercrime, such as Hacking, where the perpetrator 

finds out a loophole in an operating system and gains access through 

that either to lay hold of classified document or destroy important 

files. Cyber-Theft though categorizes differently is a next step after 

hacking. Viruses and worms also are handy tools in the hands of the 

deviant, introduced to destroy files or crash the system. A bit 

different one is Financial Fraud termed “Phishing‟ . The scammer 

tries to gain the potential victim’s trust by posing as a worker in an 

organization the victim is part of. This is some sort of Identity Theft 

also used to exploit people of their credit card details; web cloners 

share similar objectives too.  Most of the monies gotten from the 



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media are usually made untraceable using Cyber laundering skills. 

Cyber harassment is more of stalking one on the internet using 

threats. Most of these categories are interwoven and in feedback 

relationship. However, the researcher’s financial fraud through calls 

(Ibikunle and Odunayo, 2013; Makeri, 2017). Ibikunle and Odunayo 

(2013) and Makeri (2017)  identified some of these scam in Nigeria 

as Will Scam, Online Charity scam, Next of Kin Scam,“Winning 

Ticket in Lottery you Never Entered” Scam, State Department’s 

green card lottery and many others, however, the peculiarities of call 

scams were not specified and this research will provide insight on 

that.  

Ibikunle and Odunayo (2013) and Makeri (2017) outlined 

problematic Domestic and international law enforcement, 

unemployment, poverty level, inability to provide comprehensive, 

functional database for the country as some of the major motivations 

for cybercrime. Ibikunle and Odunayo (2013) and Makeri (2017) 

iterated that the solution to cybercrime resides in education and 

building up cyber defense such as firewall, encrypting, creating anti 

and spy viruses amongst others. Uwadia and Eti (2018) gave other 

sources of motivation for cybercrime to include inactivation of the 

privacy settings one’s laptop, sharing of passwords, easy to predict 

passwords, working on classified files and using social media 

handles at the same time among others. The work suggested that 

implementation of the 43 section Cybercrime Prosecution Acts of 

2015, mounting of surveillance cameras, adopting the use of no-

gender screen name, activation of security settings and using knot-

cracking passwords will go a long way in curbing cybercrime in 

Nigeria. The work however did not discuss the mechanisms in 

everyday cybercrime regarding peoples’ experiences for proper 

awareness. This paper addresses this gap. 



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Sule, Mat , Sambo,  Tal , and Yahaya (2021) went a step 

further in a closer interface with anti-cybercrime enforcement 

personnel, gaining access to their conversations on cybercrime, 

asking questions on cybercrime from security agencies and institutes 

on cybersecurity, with the objective of assessing the consequences 

of cybercrime and inadequate cybersecurity on the economy and 

security of Nigeria and Nigerians. These researchers used the 

Muthiah Alagapp 1987’s model of National Security of Developing 

States to drive home this aim. This work attempted a one on one 

interaction with persons involved in cybercrime issues however, 

while the author directed their focus on the crime fighters, this 

present research focuses on the victims and perpetrators with aim of 

grading the level of insecurity using conversational analysis. 

 

3. Data Presentation and Analysis1 

Audio clips on scam calls were scouted for (from victims who record 

their calls or anyone who has access to such recordings and social 

media) listened to, transcribed using Jefferson’s pragmatic 

transcription model and interpreted using Conversational Analysis 

propounded by Harvey Sacks, which involves analysis of natural 

conversations with the view of extracting linguistic features and 

everyday talk characteristics (Silverman, 1998). Duration of clips 

                                                 
1
 i  indicates the researchers  glossing of the Igbo language expressions used by 

the participants. (.) means pause, Pause,  >< quickened  speech pace, <>   slowed 

speech pace, [] overlapping speech, (( ))contextual information with no indication 

(here extra information is given within the bracket)  indicates particular interest 

to the analyst), =     latched speech, :: elongated speech or stretched sound. R-

receiver, 2R –second receiver,  01,02 etc –line 1,2 etc. 

 



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vary from 0.56 -5.28 minutes. A total number of 10 clips were used 

in this research. 

Example 1 

 R.01:   Hello (.) hello (.) onye na-ekwu i(who is speaking) 

 C.02: Madam (.) >I am Mr Gaius from First bank Ikoyi 

Branch, Lagos<. 

 R.03:  [Ikooo:: ] 

 C.04: [Ikoyi],   <Ikoyi Lagos>. Madam, you are:: Chinwe 

Aniagboso, Priscilla  

 05: right? 

 R.06: >Ee ee onwee? i(yes yes anything?)<(INDICATOR 1: 

SURPRISED  TO 

     07:HEAR NAME) 

 C.08: Madam, your account has a problem and customer 

care needs to fix it else 09:    your account can be hacked. I 

mean, fraudulent people can easily withdraw 10:     money 

from your account without you knowing 

 R.11: JESUS (( Naivety indicated )) 

 

The talk makes use of balanced turn taking and equal conversation 

power, adjacency pairing, repair, response. These are all present and 

the conversation just started and the participants are getting to know 

each other. Lines 01-02 indicate a proper introduction and adjacency 

pairing making the caller identifiable. In Line 01, the receiver 

allocates turn to the caller using the question-answer technique, onye 

na-ekwu? Asking this question, indirectly suggests that it it the turn 

of the caller to speak. The caller also allocates turn to the receiver in 

Line 05 using confirmation technique, ‘right?’ Line 03 suggests a 

knowledge gap when the receiver elongates the ‘o’ sound indicating 

that the location of the caller was not adequately captured. The 

receiver helps to supply this using the repair technique. The fast 



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speech in Lines 02 was used to show some level of professionalism 

while the slowed speech in line 04, you are indicates either that the 

caller is not conversant with the name and slowed down to get it 

right; or that the caller wants to claim some level of unfamiliarity 

/formal attachment to the name, making it look like the name or 

account is of no personal interest to him. The information in lines 

08-10 is the main thrust of this scam call and the response in line 11 

can be said to be a preferred response given that the caller may have 

wanted the receiver to buy this idea. This clip represents the first 

stage this study observes as the shock stage. This is the stage where 

most people are not yet aware of certain crimes or their possibility. 

The factors that gave wheels to this assumption is the adherence to 

the techniques of CA. The participants maintained adequate turn 

taking. The introduction by the caller as demanded by the receiver 

fulfilled the adjacency pairing technique making the caller somehow 

responsible. The receiver’s details are let out in the guise to 

authenticate that the person receiving the call is the true owner of 

the account. However from another angle, it is a tactics to create 

some sort of genuine and trust in the mind of the receiver and at the 

same time distracts the receiver from any form of security 

intuitiveness, shifting the receiver’s focus on assuring the caller that 

s/he is the right person other than confirming or enquiring same from 

the caller. More so, the calm and professional disposition of the 

caller, using fast and slow speech where naturally needed while 

enlightening the receiver of the problems with the account seals this 

trust. Anyone can fall victim at this stage but the elderly people and 

uneducated are more vulnerable. This stage ends without the 

receiver knowing/realizing it was a scam. When the deduction alert 

starts coming in and the receiver gets to the bank that the fraud is 

detected. This stage, though filled with shock and pain, is indirectly 



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portraying a less corrupt society. Another type of scam call is 

presented in example (2) 

Example (2) 

 R.01: 6875 7325 1243(.) I can’t see very well. Biko nwee 

ndidi i(be patient)  

 02: AGOZIE:: come and help me call the numbers biko 

i(please) 

 2R.03 : Hello 

 C.04: <I am Gaius from First bank>, >please help her call 

out the digits< 

 R2.05: God punish you ((scammer identified)) 

 C.06: sorry? 

 R2.07: wicked soul, see old woma = 

 C.08: you, thunder fire you ((scam aborted)) 

 

Here turn taking was adhered to; however the introduction of the 

third participant required another cycle of introduction. The slow 

and fast speech professional flow was employed adequately in the 

introduction however the response of the receiver in line 05 which 

is far from being a befitting response of line 04 violates adjacency 

pairing. This suggests that there is a prior knowledge the second 

receiver has. Line 05 is a dispreferred response which the caller 

tried to align or repair using the Line 06. The repeated dispreferred 

response in line 07 made the caller to give a commensurate response 

to the insults of the receiver. The caller cutting short the second 

receiver in line 07 and self-selecting him (self) to speak, violates turn 

taking technique. Here it is observed that the prior knowledge of the 

second receiver (hence forth R2) identified the call as a scam call 

irrespective of the calmness of the caller. After this discovery, it is 

observed that the receiver and caller both violated the adjacency 



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pairing, refused repair and alignment and engaged in self-selection. 

This shows that prior knowledge contributes immensely to talk in 

interaction. This can be likened to sequential implicativeness 

imported from previous experiences into the present conversation. 

 The second clip is what this study identified as the ‘basic 

knowledge’ stage. Here the shock of scam calls has subsided, and 

news has spread about the crime. However, there are still individuals 

in the community who may still be victims due to their inability to 

access the warnings from the bank or quite oblivious of what is 

happening in their environment. The aged and illiterate also fall into 

this category. They can only be rescued if younger or literate persons 

intervene. The abusive word exchange in lines 05 and 07 indicate 

that the whole plan has been messed up and the scam aborted. The 

stage is basically using the knowledge of existing insecurity to avoid 

victimization. The abuses do not in any way stop the spread or 

caution the scammer. In fact, the response of the caller shows that 

he is neither afraid nor limited in anyway. The next clip is a bit 

different in content as seen in example (3) 

 

Example (3) 

 R.01:   Hello (.) 

 C.02: Hello (.) >am I on to Micheal Onukwa<. 

 R.03:  Yeees (.) please who am I speaking with? 

 C.04:   Ok (.) >I am Victor from Megahit draw. 

Congratulations on your N500,000 05: random draw award.  

Phone numbers of subscribers are used in this exercise and 

06: you are one of the lucky winners. Congratulations once 

again< 

 R.07:   (.) ((sensing fraud)) 

 C.08: Hello (.) 



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 R.09:  yes yes . continue I’m with you((bracing up to block 

every manipulative  

 10: access)) 

 C.11: ok (.)>like I was saying, you won the N500, 000 

Megahit draw. You may need 12: to come to our 

headquarters at Wuse , FCT, Abuja for proper 

documentation  

 13: before you can access the cash prize. 

 R.14: Abuja? (.) 

 C.15:  >There could be a way around it sir. The logistics 

arm of our firm can help you 16: with the documentation if 

you send the required details and the sum of N50,000 17: 

registration fee which was paid for you initially by the 

company< 

 R.18: N50, 000? 

 C.19: yes . >This is 10% of the cash prize and is required to 

be paid before the draw. 20: However, you were one of the 

lucky ones the company considered to sponsor< 

 R.21: Thank you for reaching out to me. What details do 

you need from me? 

 C.22: <Your name, bank, account number and phone 

number, sir> After paying the 23:registration fee, the … 

 R.24: Ok. You already have my name and phone number. 

Please tell your logistics 25: unit to help me with the 

documentation, process the money then deduct N50, 000 

26: from my money. I can then send my account number 

for the money to be 

  27: transferred. Thank … 

 C.28: <There are organizational procedures, sir> 

 R.29: Please pay for me and deduct even N150,000 

 C.30: beep beep beep  ((call drops)) 



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Here turn taking and adjacency pairing are observed. However the 

information in line 04 sounds so good to be true especially if the 

receiver never registered for any draw. This is observed in the 

receiver’s silence in line 07. Lack of excitement also suggests that 

something is not right. The caller wants to make sure his cover is 

not blown, he seeks the attention of the receiver using the adjacency 

greeting technique ‘hello’, in line 08. The preferred response of the 

receiver (in line 09) when it is likely that he is aware of danger 

suggests mischief in his own part. Lines 14 and 15 violate the 

adjacency pairing technique. The question ‘Abuja?’ is expected in 

formal conversation to be responded to as ‘yes’ given that the 

receiver needs a confirmation of the location but the caller 

suggestion to help the receiver out, when the receiver didn’t 

complain of inability to travel, and adding a substantial fee of 

N50,000. Fuelled the dispreferred responses that ensued from lines 

24 -30.  The caller claims that the receiver won a certain prize but 

needs to go through some documentation which require some 

payment (which he the caller is willing to help the prize winner do, 

if he just sends in his details and the clearance charge) and 

afterwards will be asked to send his account details and then the cash 

prize will be transferred to him. Note the calm disposition of the 

receiver and the quick speeches (>…<) showing off competence as 

a Public Relations Officer. Conversely, the receiver gives 

affirmative responses seemingly projected to help the caller achieve 

his goal. Lines 22 -25 clearly shows that he succeeded in indirectly 

throwing the caller off balance when Mr Caller thought he has his 

game. The attempt in line 26 to bring in protocol issues in order to 

nullify the receiver’s argument, spurred the receiver into the bargain 

in line 27 (where he pleads with the caller to pay with his own 

money and deduct it in 3 measures from the cash prize), all in the 

bid to just pay the caller back in his own coin. The beep at the 



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caller’s end marks the abrupt ending of the call. Here it is assumed 

that the caller was resisted from every angle until he ran out of 

schemes. The third stage is known as the 

blocking/Restraining/Logic stage. This happens when the receiver 

notices after some minutes that it is a scam call and immediately 

forms a defense to politely block off the luring. Let’s consider 

another example of scam call. 

Example 4 

 R.01: And you have received your money 

 C.02: aaaahhhh. I have received my money, buy all sorts of 

things, doing all sorts 03: of businesses 

 R.04: and people don’t know about this...Bitcoin… is 

currency of China and by 05: the time you change it to 

Nigerian money, is big money now….  know I use to 06: 

hear about this  [Bitcoin, I didn’t know] 

 C.07:[If you want to come to our plat form] 

 R.08: I even have classmates I can refer them 

 C.09: The more you refer people the more your bonus. So 

quickly meet up with 10: me so I can attend to the next 

person (( initiates end of conversation )) 

 R.11: <thank God, thank you Mr Patrick. God bless you. 

Honestly, it’s now I 12: understand how this Bitcoin 

business is going. People will just come and use 13: you to 

do scam  and run away with your money ((initiates new  

 14: conversation)). You now, you take your time to explain 

this thing very well 

 C15:Yeah yeah so that you will know how it works and 

how we also get our money 



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Here the turn taking is balanced. The receiver seems to talk more 

than the caller. Again adjacency pairing is violated by the receiver 

in line 08 when he avoided being introduced to a certain platform, 

in line 11 when he ignored the end signal of conversation by the 

caller (which is ‘so I can attend to the next person’ seen in line 10). 

This conversation may be said to be partially hijacked by the 

receiver. This clip suggests that the receiver is fully aware of the ills 

in the society, the mechanisms, manifestations, diversities and all. 

There is no shock, restrain, anger in this stage. Though there is an 

overwhelming height of insecurity, the receiver feels that he can 

maneuver through them and braces himself to take advantage of the 

caller. From this excerpt, it is observed that the receiver freely 

discusses the fears of the society concerning scam calls but 

indirectly assures the caller that he thinks he is genuine. This luring 

and assurance are tactics that naturally would belong to the caller 

but has been usurped by the receiver is the skill to give hope and 

make the other participant very optimistic about a big game/catch. 

The promise to get more people into the business whets the appetite 

of the caller. Consider the excerpts of another scam call. 

Example (5) 

 C.01: Have you gone to the bank yet 

 R.02: I have called the bank guy, so the bank guy told me 

to exercise patience, so 03: I am exercising patience. 

 C.04: Why can’t you? Don’t you know how to do USSD 

code? 

 R.05: USB, USB charger? 

 C.06: USSD code, code 

 R.07: please teach me that USD let me know how I will do 

it 



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Here turn taking technique was adhered to. However, receiver in 

line 05 used an expression wrongly and still ignored the repair 

technique offered by the caller in line 06 and continued using 

wrong expressions in line 07. It is also observed that the receiver 

assumed the position of a novice and to take advantage of the 

callers’ time, voucher and intellect. Let’s consider the subsequent 

conversation in example (6) 

Example (6) 

 C.01: Okay let me send it to you, let me first teach you the 

procedure first 

 R.02: Okay 

 C0.3: Dial star seven one zero star the amount, which is 

five thousand, star the 04: account number. I’m going to 

send you the account number= 

 R.05: <Let me try it, let me try it= because even me self I'm 

convi=> 

 C.06: It will work, try it on your access bank let me send 

you the account 07:number 

 C.08: I’m going to send it to you now, star the account 

number and you will  

 09: press hash..once you press hash then you will proceed 

and you are going to 10: see the  name of the account 

number and you proceed yes, and you will write 11:your  

pin and you will transfer the money 

 R.12: I’m convinced, I’m convinced in my heart that this 

thing is genuine 

 C.13: You have nothing to be worried about sir, I am the 

one assuring you, I 13: attend deeper life Church I can't lie 

to you I am an elderly man I am assuring 14: you. 



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Here the receiver violates the adjacency pairing in line 05, 12 

employing slow speech. The caller on the other hand, violates the 

turn taking in lines 06 and 08. This may be as the result of the 

impatience in getting the job done.  The introduction of a side topic 

on religion just to assure the receiver of his integrity took another 

turn as the receiver in violation of the adjacency principle, made it 

the main topic. See example 7 

Example 7 

 R.01: Ooooh you attend deeper life... 

 C.02: You will be the one to call me and thank me for this 

opportunity sir 

 R.03: You attend deeper life Church ((insists on the new 

topic)) 

 C.04: Yes sir I attended deeper life Church 

 R.05: Wow my brother (laughs) ooo this is wonderful…. I 

use to attend deeper 06: life when I was in the village 

 C.07: Wow that is = 

 R.08: Woooow,eeeehn that's very good, Praise the Lord! 

 C.09: Alleluia sir 

 R.10: Praise the Lord! my brother,chai,kai 

 C.11: Okay sir quickly proceed=((initiates previous topic)) 

 R.12: Which branch of deeper life do you attend? ((insists 

on the present  

13: ‘fruitless’ topic)) 

 14: background noise, beep beep 

 

Here the caller breaks the adjacency pairing in line 2 and the receiver 

in turn breaks the adjacency pairing in line 03 just to retain his topic 

of interest. The caller obeys the adjacency pairing to satisfy the 

immediate conversational desire of the receiver so that the initial 

discussion can continue. In line 11, the caller tactically reinitiated 



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the previous topic but the receiver totally ignores it. Adjacency 

pairing takes care of smooth running of a conversation and where it 

is lacking, coherence which is one of the principles of 

conversational analysis is totally lost. This explains the frustration 

of the caller in dropping the call. The final phase of this stage four 

is when the scammer realizes that the receiver is not willing to part 

with his penny but would rather continue to rigmarole. Both 

speakers violate adjacency pairing rule when they ignore the 

expected response from each other and continue on lines of thought 

more preferable to them. The less motivated gives in. 

 

4. Conclusion 

Shock is felt when there is a new introduction that disrupted a once 

serene state. This shock was once felt for the first time a government 

official embezzles money or someone demanding sex in exchange 

for a job, took a contract and failed to deliver. Whatever the scenario 

is, from the data discussed under stage 1, we have observed there is 

always an inception of insecurity of our money, lives, resources and 

the nation in general. And this inception comes with shock to the 

first-hand victims and the nation in general. This is quite understood 

and expected because it has never been the norm. 

In diversifying the crimes under the basic knowledge stage, 

and placing the searchlight on the Nigerian politicians, a scenario is 

painted and it shows that crimes committed make waves all over the 

nation, draws attention of the law enforcement agencies, the media 

as it makes headlines, the news is well circulated, the masses rejoice 

and commend the law enforcement agencies involved for a job well 

done, etc. it appears so convincing that the politicians who 

committed the heinous offences will go in for it, considering the 

media visibility and the involvement of the law enforcement 

agencies. Sadly, the news starts to dwindle, information begins 



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disappear, it ends in court with court cases always adjourned to far 

dates, several hearings in court, forfeiture of properties in Nigeria 

and other places begin ... at this point, one would expect a 

conclusion of the case and judgment of the jail term meted out on 

these politicians whose properties bought with public funds has just 

been forfeited as a penalty to show that a crime was committed. 

Alas, killing and ruining all hopes of bringing the defaulters to book. 

Subsequently, a pardon is granted, and after a little while, the same 

defaulters go ahead to vie for higher political position, and to the 

amazement of all, they win and get into power yet again. Supporting 

the above claim, is the case of former governor of Enugu state, His 

Excellency Chimaroke Nnamani. A Federal High Court in Lagos 

has ordered that four companies associated with former Enugu state 

governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, be forfeited to the Federal 

Government. The four companies – Rainbow net Nigeria limited, 

Cosmos F. M, Capital city Automobile Nigeria limited and 

Renaissance University Teaching Hospital- were convicted by a 

judge of the Lagos court, Mohammed Yinusa, on Tuesday after 

pleading guilty to a 10 – count amended charge against them by the 

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Furthermore, at the 

ruling, counsel to the anti-graft agency, Kevin Uzozie, prayed the 

court to make the order of final forfeiture of the companies based on 

their plea. Reviewing the facts, Mr Yinusa made an order of final 

forfeiture of the properties which includes 22 Duplex buildings in 

Ebeano under tunnel and so many others. (Premium Times, July 7, 

2015). 

Another report unveils the revelation made by the FBI on 

how the former governor Chimaroke Nnamani stole $41.8 million, 

paid millions of dollars in cash for Florida property. Report has it 

that the former governor used the ill-gotten riches to acquire luxury 

assets in Florida, according to a statement submitted by the FBI in a 



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forfeiture proceeding. The alleged crime was committed during his 

tenure as governor of Enugu state between May 1999 and May 2007. 

Among his co-conspirators are Peter Mbah (The governor Elect of 

Enugu state), late Sam Ejiofor and Chika Ohaa. (9News, October 4, 

2022). 

With the above information, especially as it concerns looting 

of public funds, one would expect that the politicians involved 

would never have the opportunity of holding any public office again. 

However, that is not the case, because the former governor of Enugu 

state, Chimaroke Nnamani became a Senator representing Enugu 

East Senatorial District under the platform of the People’s 

Democratic Party, PDP from 2007-2011 and returned to the Senate 

in 2019- 2023. In this case, it appears as if looting, misappropriation 

of funds, money laundering, crime in general does not in any way 

dent the image or affect the political career of these politicians.  This 

is more like endorsing the laundering of our national resources; a 

case of national and state insecurity. 

In the third stage, the victim tries to block or wade off every 

access of being scammed using non- violent resistance. This comes 

as an aftermath of an awareness of the issue on ground. For instance, 

during elections corrupt politicians get involved in vote buying, they 

come to the pooling units with lots of money, entice some of the 

voters and get them to change their mind and vote in another 

candidate in order to collect money. This blocking stage, is the stage 

where these voters/ masses are tired of the corruption /election scam, 

and have decided to take the bull by the horn by electing the 

candidate that appeals to their conscience, someone who has the 

capacity to work for the masses and not loot, and by so doing, refuse 

to be enticed with money and also refuse to sell their votes to the 

opposition candidate. This claim is evident in the action of a certain 

old woman from Ebenebe in Anambra state, that made waves in the 



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news over her refusal to take money and vote for a candidate that is 

not her choice candidate. In the past election that brought Prof. 

Chukwuma Soludo into office, the said woman was captured on 

camera as she vehemently refused financial inducement during the 

election. (www.vanguardngr.com September 18, 2022). 

A similar event in this stage is the EndSars saga. This revolt 

organized by young Nigerians who came together to block and put 

an end to an ugly recurrent trend of violence by the police. Nigeria 

has recorded series of issues bothering on police brutality, mainly 

against the youth, but little or nothing has been done about it. The 

spark that birthed the EndSars protest was a video of a man allegedly 

being killed by the notorious and scandalous Special Anti-Robbery 

Squad (SARS) which went viral. For two weeks, Nigerian youths 

were protesting in different and almost every part of the country, 

saying ♯ No to police brutality, ♯ Stop the killing, ♯ EndSars and 

some other slogans. This protest got the attention of the government, 

and they promised to disband SARS and setup judicial panels of 

inquiry to look probe the allegations of abuse by officers. 

(www.bbc.com October 2021).  Protests of large number of youths 

lasted that long because they chose to be organized, civil and 

rightfully drive home their point. The fourth stage is replica of the 

Nigeria we see today.The storylines of 2022 ASUU strike and the 

tussle with the Federal government for eight months was expected 

to rouse the anger of masses rather it was used for cartoons, social 

media Tiktok jokes and personal entertainment. (Makinde, 2023). 

The 2023 election campaigns were colored with obvious 

incompetence of some candidates, seen in their speeches, physical 

and cognitive instability. These became raw materials for social 

media jokes, slangs and part of conversational comic relief and ice 

breakers in events. 

http://www.bbc.com/


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This research identified progressive and yet, overlapping 

stages of depreciation in the security of Nigerians. It is progressive 

in the sense that the first level has lesser implications than the second 

and so on. It is overlapping in the sense that the progression is not 

running wholly around the nation rather each unit or section or arm 

or organization or family or persons have different progressive 

stages they are involved in. this implies that someone in three 

different organizations may be exposed to two to three or all the four 

stages of this security depreciation. The study encourages that the 

linguistic cues harnessed from these scam calls be provided in the 

content of media jingles for awareness against scam calls and 

insecurity in general. 

 

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