Top secret: Hacking and fraud detection in business emails of a Taiwanese company

Abstract

A hacker’s attempt to defraud a Taiwanese company was detected by an employee who noticed a difference in the email writing style used. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the email writing styles used by the Taiwanese employee and the hacker, using Scollon and Scollon’s (Intercultural communication 1995) intercultural communication model as a basis, comparing the hacker’s emails with those of a company employee as they write to a customer located in Saudi Arabia. The three questions addressed are: (1) what email writing style does the Taiwanese employee use? (2) What email writing style does the hacker use? (3) What are the differences in style between the hacker and the Taiwanese employee? A total of 11 emails sent by the hacker and 20 emails sent by the Taiwanese employee are compared in this study. Use of the business emails was authorized by the manger of the Taiwanese company. It is found that the Taiwanese employee tends to use an inductive style, a strategy of involvement, and a peaceful tone when writing emails. Inductive means that beginning the email contains background information before getting to the main point of the email. The strategy of involvement means that the Taiwanese employee views supervisors and other employees as a whole team. Peaceful tone means that the employee wants to maintain and enhance the relationship with the customer. Conversely, the hacker’s writing style is more deductive, uses the strategy of independence, and a challenging tone. Deductive means that the hacker tends to make the main point of the email in the beginning sentences. The strategy of independence means that the hacker refers only to him/herself when writing emails. The challenging tone is shown in the use of command patterns.