Revisions - Project 2

         Anyone can become a victim of a financial crime but the most common to happen to you is Phishing. Phishing is ‘the fraudulent practice of sending emails or other messages posing as reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers’ (Oxford). Passwords, banking account information and social security numbers give fraudsters all they need to steal one’s identity and or money through access to their financials.  There are many different types of phishing scams, which all use technology to deceive a victim in some form or another. The most common is smishing; smishing is the use of text messages to defraud an individual of their personal information. To really understand the use of smishing and its context, purpose, and intended audience I will use a rhetorical analysis to analyze two artifacts, one is a text-based informative article and the other is a journalist news video broadcast. The use of these two artifacts is to show how in different forms of delivery the goal is to advise a potential victim and prevent any individual from being a victim of phishing, more specifically smishing. Being able to connect and provide valuable information, sharing resources, creating buy-in and overall awareness for this big issue of smishing.

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         The first artifact we will examine together is a journalist news video broadcast report from Fox 11 News Marla Tellez; she will be sharing a story of how a ‘young tech savvy millennial’ fell victim to a smishing scam (Tellez, 2023). The victim of this story Katie Calloway also shares in her words how she was deceived by an elaborate scheme of phishing. She shares how a single phone call followed by an immediate text message took thousands of dollars from her bank account at Wells Fargo. Calloway believed she was genuinely speaking with her financial institution, when she got a phone call from what she deemed their certified phone number then a text message to verify if a recent transaction was fraud. Immediately after Calloway clicked the link, she was notified of a large wire transfer from her account that was not authorized by herself and the red flag was raised right at that moment.   

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         Tellez appeals to ethos when she identifies the victim, Katie Calloway as ‘young tech savvy millennial’ creating credibility in the victim’s knowledge of what a phishing scam could be (Tellez, 2023). While further expressing how Calloway works in the tech industry and how she felt experienced enough in it to not fall for this scam like she had previously warned her family about. Giving the audience a reason to believe that Calloway could be trusted in her testimony and relate to how she thought she could identify the red flags if this had happened to her. The media report appealed to logos by sharing Wells Fargo’s official letter claiming Calloway’s’ claim was denied and the phone screenshot of the call which proved it came from Wells Fargo’s saved corporate phone number appealing to the logic of an individual who may believe these kinds of scams at its face value.  Tellez appeals to pathos to share that phishing can happen to anyone, creating a broad audience. She shared details of the victims’ losses by the thousands creating empathy for the loss Calloway endured. The video testimony from the victims’ own home connected to how ‘tech savvy’ the millennial was while also showing how real the victim is to the scenario and how the victim felt (Tellez,2023).  The media report shares photos of the victims’ family as Calloway thought she would be able to teach her family about phishing red flags rather than being a victim. Tellez further emphasized the concern and connection about the victim by sharing Wells Fargo closed Calloway’s’ claim later creating a dialog with the other reporters about how ‘alarming’ it was that the fraudsters called from the verified Wells Fargo’s number. She went even further to share she attempted to obtain a statement from Wells Fargo who claimed they would take another look at Calloway’s case (Tellez,2023).

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         The second artifact we will examine together is a Consumer Advice report from The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) posted in July of 2022. The delivery mode was a web-based text article sharing how to recognize spam text messages also known as smishing and phishing attempts. The FTC starts with connecting with the reader by implying if they have a phone, it’s likely they have received a scam text message or two trying to grab everyone’s attention with that first line. The article expresses how real a phishing scheme can be presented and gives examples of how these fake texts are trying to gain your personal information, items like passwords, financial institution account number, and or persona social security numbers. The advice report continues with examples on how to identify any red flags, promises of gifts or assistance with loans. The final part of the report delivers what steps to take if you find yourself questioning a situation or becoming a victim to this type of scam; sharing its best to contact the so-called company that is sending you these messages directly and remember financial institutions will not ask for personal information by text.  There are also ways to block these unknown numbers with your phone and service providers. They went on to include an example of how a phishing text might look by digital media picture, giving a visual to the reader to connect to how real the phishing text may appear. 

         

         The article posted directly to the Federal Trade Commission website appealed to ethos. Giving the audience a clear identity of its official and trusted information coming from a knowledgeable resource. Their continued appeal to ethos in this consumer advice report are the FTC official logo and badge at the top and bottom of the web report. The digital media photo of a text scenario provided what a smishing text could look like as well as links to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram engaging to an audience of different ages and media platforms also giving authority to the sources. The appeal to logos is in the Related Article links at the bottom of the text which allows for the reader to know there has been additional research conducted and more resources available to prevent and identify this type of fraud creating logical belief. The pathos appeal in this text report starts from the very first paragraph; attracting any reader who has a cell phone; probably reading the article from their cell phone. Providing quick links to target specific parts of the text for readers’ easy access to the information they want to review and need. The FTC provides details of why you may get these text messages but follows up each statement with reassurance of fraud, ‘but they’re not real’, ‘but it’s fake’ or ‘but there’s no deal and probably no card’ this allows for you to connect to what they might target you for but also reassures the reader these are all part of the phishing scheme and are simply a ploy to get your personal information financial or otherwise (FTC Consumer, 2023). Using the mode of web-based text article allows for an audience to easily read and be clear to the point of how to recognize phishing, more specifically smishing. A lot of times articles like this can lose the audience with too much data or information but this one identifies the readers are not here for research they want a clear alert about what to look for, how to prevent it and what to do next if you have fallen victim to a phishing scam.  

 

         In the first televised journalist broadcast the reporter is trying to reach an audience of many ages, she uses verbiage like ‘tech savvy’ and shows how a young professional can make you feel as though anyone could fall for a scam even if you are aware of red flags (Tellez, 2023). The mode of delivery as a televised report allowing you to connect with the story visually and audibly. She is trying to get you invested, connect to people’s empathy for the victim’s loss, show how real the scams could appear and build trust in her and the source.

In the second web-based written article, it’s more formal than the televised awareness. This is something that an audience must be looking for rather than stumble upon on the news. Not many people are looking for a consumer alert through the Federal Trade Commission which could be a constraint of the alert itself; it’s unlikely to reach the same broad audience as the televised news report. However, the outline, design and flow of the written text is easy to read and was not directed to a specific discourse community creating thorough access to the information as a whole. The quick links directed to specific topics within the text made the article easy to guide through based on the audience’s wants and needs of reviewing the article. The source itself, coming from the Federal Trade Commission, gives the text authority and respect from reputation.

 

         These two artifacts differ in mode of delivery and genre. They are reporting similar topics on phishing, more specifically smishing. One reporting a victim story while the other considers hypothetical scenarios. Both reporting how smishing can take place, how to identify red flags and what to do if you fall victim to this scam. The televised news broadcast caters to a broader audience and to one’s empathy with the victim while also providing valuable information to be mindful of. The web text article is more focused on logic rather than empathy. I can see where the intended purpose is to reach a broad audience with providing text examples for different circumstances so people can relate to how they could be targeted; promises of gifts or offering to lower a rate; all scenarios that could appeal to different audiences. I can also say the photo image within the web-based text is a nice touch to show how text could be presented rather than just writing about it; allows a connection or a way to appeal to different parts of people’s logic, learning or memory styles to recall the trusted information later. Both artifacts have the same purpose to inform the public of a form of smishing, sharing resources, creating buy-in and overall awareness for this big issue of phishing an I think they both were successful in their own way.

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