The Forensic Linguistics of Fear-Based Messaging: Deconstructing Narrative Structures in Malaysian Investment Scam Promotional Materials

This study analyses fear-based messaging as a recurring narrative structure in promotional materials for illegal investment scams in Malaysia. This research employs qualitative content analysis grounded in forensic linguistics to examine texts retrieved from unregulated websites identified by national authorities, including the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia. The analysis revealed two emerging significant themes: Psychological and Emotional Manipulation, and Exploitation of Financial and Material Insecurity. Within the first theme, scammers employed urgency, scarcity, and pressure strategies to limit rational decision-making, while exploiting emotional triggers such as anxiety, guilt, and pride to manipulate the vulnerability of their victims. The second theme emphasised loss-centric appeals and narratives of financial instability, depicting scams as safeguards against economic downturns or as solutions for past financial failure. These strategies collectively demonstrate how scammers employ urgency, emotional manipulation, and loss framing to construct narratives that target individual psychology and broader socio-economic vulnerabilities. The results complement the expanding corpus of research on deceptive language by revealing how fear operates as a rhetorical device and a systematic narrative mechanism that amplifies persuasion and credibility in scam communication. The study highlights practical applications for scam detection and public awareness campaigns, specifically the potential of natural language processing algorithms to identify recurring fear-based codes. This research elucidates the language dynamics underlying false narratives, and it offers insights into formulating preventive strategies, legislative initiatives, and educational campaigns to reduce vulnerability to scams.