Scamming the Scammers

B1+ Reading Test

Read the text about binge-watching and for questions 1 to 6, choose the correct answers.

Tiffany Wilson is a scambaiter; that is, she spends time communicating with scammers in order to catch them out. Here she tells her story.

‘I first got into scambaiting when my grandmother got tempted into adopting a puppy. She’d seen some pictures of cute puppies on social media, along with a text saying that they were going to get killed unless someone adopted them. Fortunately, I warned her before it was too late. Scammers attract people with bargain prices, so she didn’t lose much. It isn’t until later, when people have fallen in love with their puppy, that the scammers start demanding huge amounts of money. We tried to get the money back from the bank, but that wasn’t possible.

‘I was already familiar with the puppy scam then. We’d learnt about scamming during internet safety classes at school, though I heard about the puppy scam elsewhere. It was mentioned in an online video about the different ways scammers get money out of people. I think my generation knows much more about scamming than older people. It’s occasionally mentioned in the kinds of news articles my grandma reads, but people my age who see loads of scambaiting videos have a much better idea of how common scamming is and the tactics that are used.

‘Scambaiting involves engaging scammers in conversation. When they ask you to do something, you act a little stupid by asking lots of questions or making mistakes. It’s frustrating for them, but they stay on the line patiently because they think they will get money out of you. I don’t think you can be a scambaiter unless you are pretty sociable, as you have to talk to people for a long time. Most scambaiters put videos of their calls online, and the popular ones are very funny.

‘I scambait first and foremost because I want to help people recognise scams, and although most viewers of my videos are young, I’m sure the content they learn passes on to other family members. It’d be nice if I actually helped to get a scammer arrested, but there are just too many scammers for police to deal with. But as long as I am wasting a scammer’s time, that person can’t be scamming someone else. I also get a bit of income from the adverts that go out on my videos.

‘Some scambaiters go too far, though, when creating entertainment by punishing the scammers. I saw one video in which the scambaiter convinced a scammer that he had a well-paid job for him in Lagos. The guy used all his money to travel to the capital of Nigeria, and when he got there, there was nothing for him. For the scambaiter and the viewers, that was all a big joke. For that poor guy in Africa who was trying to earn a living by any means, it was a real situation and it could have been dangerous.

‘I’m aware that scambaiting doesn’t promote good international relationships. The most popular of my videos are the ones that make the scammers look foolish, and I’m forever deleting racist comments. I know that a lot of scammers are really poor. They believe that all Westerners are rich and that scamming them does little harm. I’ve tried to convince scammers to get a more responsible job, but I haven’t had any luck yet, as they have few employment opportunities. But I hope the conversations I have with them go some way in helping people understand the lives of people in poor countries and the things they have to do for cash.’

Reading comprehension test

Explanation

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