Hacks and scams!

Have you ever been the victim of a scam? I was recently targeted by a group of hackers. They said they were trying to help me but it was a vishing scam and they were trying to hack into my bank account! I always thought I would never fall for something like this but they were very convincing! Read on and you will learn some useful vocabulary to talk about this topic.

​Vocabulary
victim
A victim is the person who is harmed by a crime.

target
To target somebody means to choose that person and attack them. Criminals target certain types of people who are more likely to be vulnerable, such as an old person living alone.
 
scam
A scam is an illegal plan to trick somebody in order to get money.

hack
To get into somebody’s computer or email, for example, to steal information or to get into somebody’s bank account to steal money.

hacker
A person who hacks into somebody else’s computer or account.

phishing
This is when hackers try to trick you into giving them personal information on the internet, often by sending you an email and asking you to click on a link and confirm your details.
E.g. "I got an email asking me to confirm my details but it was a phishing scam."

vishing
This is “voice phishing”. Instead of sending an email, the hackers phone you and ask for details to get into your accounts.

fraud (noun)
This describes a wide range of criminal activities which involve tricking or deceiving somebody to get money.

defraud (verb)
To commit fraud, to illegally take something from somebody by tricking them.
E.g. "They tried to defraud the insurance company by claiming for things that weren't actually stolen."

catfishing
This means tricking people on social media or dating websites by pretending to be somebody else, usually somebody attractive!

fall for / be taken in
These phrasal verbs both mean to be deceived, to believe something that isn’t true.
E.g. "They told him he had to transfer his money to a new account and he fell for it."

You’ve been had!
This is an informal way to say that you’ve been tricked or deceived.

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