Investigation through Digital Marketing Perspective

Arfiana Maulina
3 min readMay 21, 2022

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Disclaimer: some of the proof will be censored for safety and security reasons. this is a true story that happens to Millie (pseudonym and not the writer).

In May 2022, a random person named George (Pseudonym) who does not know where the traffic was led him to WhatsApp with the number starting with +234. From the first time, he starts to gain attention through affection as a long-time friend who does not meet for more than a year. This show how interpersonal communication through showing “feeling” to gain “trust”.

234 country caller code is registered in Nigeria. However, George sent his picture in a traditional Malay costume and I believe this picture is fake or from the data breach. I can say someone, let’s call them Jonas (Pseudonym) is a person who really details his action. Let me show you why. First, the number +234 was checked on truecaller.com seems not indicated as spam and registered under the name George and I believe this is a virtual number.

But George does not know how to communicate even if he tried to be “localized” using other languages than English. I believe this came from Google Translate or any other translator. Honestly, in my opinion, it is cringing to see how that “OK” keeps appearing.

Text I: Saya ingin mengunjungi Anda di negara Anda segera dan saya ingin Anda mencari rumah untuk saya beli sehingga kita akan tinggal bersama di sana bersama keluarga kita bersama oke

The language detected is from English to Bahasa Indonesia and “Anda” is a formal term that is rarely used in Indonesia, especially with the capital letter. If he shows affection it should not be “Anda” used in a very formal term. P.S Ups, sorry you got that wrong!.

Funny things how can you buy a dress at the London Drugs. It does not make sense at all. I believe that picture is captured and shown as a ‘Rich Man’ but in the reality, it is all from the picture-mining on our social media. Do you see FedEx? I found this

CLICK HERE

Do you think it catches my logic when George wears a picture with traditional Malay custom but holds a dollar in a different location while sending a picture from Google, especially from Spain? And I found it “fake” since he gives the picture from a different location.

In conclusion, you already find in this case how I analyze the communication way to gain trust, and how the language defines and detected fake pictures from its inconsistency. Communication through media easily shows if it is true or not if we can analyze what and how the human behavior on it in a multilayer way.

Sincerely yours, Arfiana Maulina. Do not forget to subscribe and visit my social media!

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Arfiana Maulina

18 | Marketing Enthusiast / Educational Content Creator @arfianamaulinaa