언어적 프로파일링을 통한 로맨스 스캠 범죄자 식별에 관한 탐색적 연구 = Exploring the Applicability of Linguistic Profiling in Identifying Romance Scammers

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study is an exploratory attempt to examine whether linguistic profiling techniques—utilizing individual stylometric features (‘Writeprints’) and discourse analysis observed in instant messaging platforms—can effectively identify the authorship of romance scam offenders and infer their linguistic characteristics. Given that romance scammers often rely upon psychological manipulation and relational persuasion strategies, this study aim to analyze the language patterns embedded in digital communication between offenders and victims to uncover the offenders’ discourse strategies and linguistic identities.
The data used in this research consist of chat logs and instant messaging transcripts collected from real-life romance scam cases. Linguistic features such as ‘Writeprints’ (stylometric fingerprints), discourse markers, distinctive lexical /vocabulary choices, repetitive expressions, and onomatopoeic/imitative forms were examined to extract patterns that could assist in identifying the perpetrator and inferring their psychological and behavioral tendencies.
Particular attention is given to the multimodal elements present in instant messaging—such as emojis, emoticons, hyperlinks, and embedded images, etc.—and their interaction with textual content. By incorporating these components, the study provides a deeper understanding of persuasion mechanisms commonly employed in contemporary digital crimes. Ultimately, the findings indicate that linguistic profiling holds significant potential as an investigative tool in digital crime contexts and contributes to the design of more effective and targeted response strategies by law enforcement.