Global View - E-mail Scam (C0359)

A:

I got an urgent email from Tom! He says he is in London and got robbed and needs us to wire him some money for his hotel.

B:

What? That sounds really dodgy tome.

A:

No way, Tom is an honest person, he wouldn’t lie tome.

B:

No I mean, it seems like someone may have hacked his email account and sent that out. I mean think about it, why would he email you instead of calling you.

A:

Do you really think someone is trying to scam people into sending money?

B:

For sure! There are so many con artists out there, you never really know.

Key Vocabulary

urgent

important

get robbed

to be victim of a robbery, something stolen

wire

to send money electronically

dodgy

questionable, suspicious

hack

to gain access illegally or without authorization

scam

to swindle (someone) by means of a trick

con artist

a swindler who exploits the confidence of his vict

Supplementary Vocabulary

swindle

To cheat or defraud of money or property

Ponzi Scheme

is an investment fraud that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.

con

to persuade by deception

Fraud

a person who makes deceitful pretenses

Pirate

a person who uses or reproduces the work or invention of another without authorization.

Online Review and Discussion.   ©2011 Praxis Language Ltd.