Optimal control and cost-effectiveness analysis of scam rumor propagation over social networks

Abstract

A scam rumor is a false information that is spread in order to deceive individuals and organizations. These rumors frequently use people’s trust and emotions for illegal purposes to gain money or cause harm. This paper presents an optimal control strategy and a cost effectiveness analysis for a deterministic model designed to explain how false information, or ”Scam Rumor” spreads on social networking sites. This model accounts for the network’s informants’ actions. We evaluate the efficacy of tactics to stop the propagation of scam rumors via social media using optimal control theory. We also do numerical simulations to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of applying the techniques we suggest, emphasizing their potential to improve the accuracy of online content.

Keywords

• Rumor propagation
• Optimal control
• Cost effectiveness
• Pontryagin’s maximum principle
• SIR model
• Numerical simulations