Are you at risk from online fraud?

Question 1

fraud
Fraudulent
Fraudsters

Answer 1

the criminal activity of getting money by deceiving people– or tricking people by doing something dishonest.

This year, for example, thousands of people in the UK fell for a fraudulent – or fake – email, requesting that people update their direct debit details for paying their TV licence. That’s a payment we have to make in the UK to fund the BBC.

fraudsters – the people who commit fraud – gained financial information by phishing.
how much money did criminals steal through fraud and scams last year?

Question 2

scam

Answer 2

illegal or dishonest way of making money by tricking someone.

We may think that we’ll never be scammed, but already millions of people have fallen for fake emails, phone calls or letters that look genuine and ask us to give or update our financial details.

for victims of fraud the consequences – the outcome – can be very bad. Especially if somebody loses all their hard-earned savings – it can devastating.

Question 3

fall for (something)

Answer 3

believe (something), that is a trick or a lie, to be true.

We may think that we’ll never be scammed, but already millions of people have fallen for fake emails, phone calls or letters that look genuine and ask us to give or update our financial details.
thousands of people in the UK fell for a fraudulent – or fake – email, requesting that people update their direct debit details for paying their TV licence. That’s a payment we have to make in the UK to fund the BBC.

Question 4

sleight of hand

Answer 4

use of clever skill to gain something dishonestly.

It’s a sleight of hand fraud. The criminals get you to look over there whilst they rifle your pockets and I have the email here and it looks completely convincing. All the right logos, all the right fonts. It just says that my direct debit on my TV licence has failed and I need to pay it. It’s very polite.
She said that this scam was a sleight of hand fraud.

for victims of fraud the consequences – the outcome – can be very bad. Especially if somebody loses all their hard-earned savings – it can devastating.

Question 5

rifle

Answer 5

search something in order to steal from it.

It’s a sleight of hand fraud. The criminals get you to look over there whilst they rifle your pockets and I have the email here and it looks completely convincing. All the right logos, all the right fonts.

Question 6

phishing

Answer 6

tricking someone by email or online to get their personal data by pretending to be from your bank.

like in this case, fraudsters – the people who commit fraud – gained financial information by phishing. That’s not fishing using a rod, line and hook, but by sending an email that looked like it came from your bank, asking for confidential information.

Question 7

sophisticated

Answer 7

clever and often complicated – so it can confuse us.

It’s a sleight of hand fraud. The criminals get you to look over there whilst they rifle your pockets and I have the email here and it looks completely convincing.

The more sophisticated frauds are ones that have been thought through very carefully. And this has been thought through. It’s a fraud that can be layered so you know we’re getting some information from you. What you really look for is a window into someone - a key that unlocks just a small part of their identity or their personal data and from that a good fraud will build and build and build on it until the consequences to some people can be completely devastating.

for victims of fraud the consequences – the outcome – can be very bad. Especially if somebody loses all their hard-earned savings – it can devastating.