Reading 3

Read three people’s opinions about scams. Match the questions (11–16) with the people (A–C). You can choose the people more than once.

A John
I’ve never been the victim of a scam, at least as far as I know, but I know someone who has, and it’s such a sad story. The person I’m talking about is an old lady who lives near my parents. She lives alone and only has a daughter who goes to visit her from time to time. One day, the daughter found a huge pile of letters in the lady’s bedroom and they were all scam letters saying that she’d won something in a lottery or a competition. Apparently, the old lady had replied to many of them and even sent money to pay what the scammers called ‘the insurance on her winnings’. When the daughter investigated further, she found that the old lady had lost thousands of pounds! I think it’s terrible that these scammers target older people who don’t realise what lies these people are telling them. They’re from a generation who believe that most people are basically honest. So, if someone tells them that they’ve won a large amount of money in a Canadian lottery, they don’t immediately think ‘how could I have won money from a lottery that I never entered?’ They do what they’re asked to do. They send money and then never hear from these people again. It’s appalling.

B Emma
There’s a scam that’s been highlighted on television recently because it has become so widespread. It’s telephone fraud. There’s something called ‘vishing’ and it involves automated calls which are so believable many people think they are having a conversation with a real person. The scammers use software that can mimic the caller ID number of the organisation they are impersonating. Because people trust that number, they get tricked into giving personal details over the phone. Another scam is the ‘no hang up’ fraud. This is really scary. People get a call saying that there’s a problem with their bank and they need to call the number on the back of their credit or debit card. So they put the phone down and dial that number but what they don’t know is that the fraudster has kept the line open so when they call, thinking they are speaking to their bank or whatever, they’re really talking to the person behind the scam. Then they get tricked into transferring money into another account for security purposes. Apparently, these fraudsters also put on certain accents, like Scottish or Welsh, because they are considered more trustworthy. Anyway, the answer is to hang up of course. Or wait for at least ten minutes before you call.

C David
We are warned often enough about online fraud, but it’s still happening, and these scams can cost people huge amounts of money. It’s difficult to choose one to talk about because there are so many, but I think one of the most dangerous is the one involving banks. I have a couple of friends who have received emails from what they thought was their bank. The address and logo were identical and the emails looked official and genuine. They asked the recipient to update their personal information, so my friends were supposed to type in their account details, addresses, passwords, etc. In fact, the emails weren’t from the banks but were very clever copies. My friends are on the look-out for online scams and know as well as I do to be very careful about replying to emails that ask for personal information like that, but there are a lot of people out there who are unsuspecting. The scammers can get their hands on information that they can use to make themselves a lot of money. Any online users must update their security and never give information like this unless they are very sure that the request is genuine. Banks actually say that they would never ask for information in this way, so the easy rule is NEVER respond.

Which person: 11 passes on official advice about avoiding a scam? 
...........................

12 talks about a scam that involves imitating the way people speak? ........................... 

13 has personal knowledge of someone who has lost money in a scam? ........................... 

14 mentions a scam that has received media attention lately? ........................... 

15 talks about a scam that uses the postal service? ........................... 

.     16 thinks they are unlikely to fall for one of these scams? ...........................