The Rhetoric of Deception: Why the Humanities Matter in the Age of Online Fraud

As online fraud accelerates globally, responses have largely centered on technological detection and behavioral nudges. This talk proposes a different starting point: scams are rhetorical performances. Drawing from classical rhetoric, persuasion theory and media studies, we examine how fraudulent communications construct credibility, stage emotional escalation and engineer identification. From romance scams to investment fraud, scammers rely on narrative sequencing, strategic ambiguity and linguistic framing to transform suspicion into trust. By situating online fraud within the tradition of rhetorical studies, we argue for an applied humanities framework that treats persuasion as infrastructure. Combating fraud, we suggest, requires not only better algorithms, but better rhetorical literacy. 

This event is hybrid, online attendees may join by ASU Live.

About the speakers

Jens E. Kjeldsen is professor of rhetoric and visual communication at the University of Bergen (Norway). His main research areas include visual and multimodal rhetoric and argumentation, rhetorical reception studies, speechmaking and speechwriting, royal rhetoric, political debates and rhetoric and expertise in the pandemic. He is the co-founder and longtime president of Rhetoric Society of Europe, the co-founder and longtime chief editor of the research journal Rhetorica Scandinavica. He is also the founder and leader of the national Norwegian speech competition “Seize the word,” which teaches high school students to take the word and exercise rhetorical citizenship. Kjeldsen is the winner of several teaching and communication awards and has received the Grand Award of the international Cicero Speechwriting Award, offered by the Professional Speechwriter Association. Presently, Kjeldsen is working on issues of ethos, trust and credibility, and on the rhetoric of deceit in online fraud.

Aaron Hess is associate professor of rhetoric and communication in the School of Applied Sciences and Arts, and Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Curricular Innovation within the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University. His research includes developing participatory approaches to rhetoric and public advocacy, examinations of rhetoric and digital technologies, and theorizing about issues of credibility, ethos and trust. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Norway for the 2022-2023 academic year, during which he studied issues of trust and ethos as they pertain to culture, technology and other social issues. He has authored, coauthored, or edited four volumes and his many essays are featured in the International Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, and Communication Monographs, among others. In 2016, his co-authored book, Participatory Critical Rhetoric, won the Outstanding Book of the Year award in the Critical and Cultural Studies Division at the National Communication Association. Together, Hess and Kjeldsen recently co-edited a volume, “Ethos, Technology, and AI in Contemporary Society.”

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