People are losing more money because of fake job offers sent by text and WhatsApp. A lot more people told Action Fraud about these tricks this year than last year. The police think that even more people have been tricked but haven’t said anything. These bad people make someone think they can get a job, but then they steal their money or bank information.

A lady named Bella lost almost £3,000 because of a fake job offer. She got messages and calls that she thought were for a real job. But the bad people got her card information and took her money to buy something called cryptocurrency. Bella’s bank won’t give her money back, so she’s working extra as a waitress to get her money back.

A teacher named Dr. Lis Carter says these tricks are complicated and happen in many steps. The bad people use special words to get important information like your name and bank details. They might ask for a little money first, saying you’ll get it back later. But once you give them money, they might keep asking for more. To stop these tricks, everyone needs to work together, including the government, police, and businesses.

Original news source: I had £3,000 stolen via WhatsApp job scam message’ (BBC)

🎧 Listen:

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📖 Vocabulary:

Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs, students will read the article and then summarize the main points in their own words. They will take turns sharing their summaries with each other.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: In small groups, students will discuss their opinions on the issue of fake job offers and share their thoughts. The teacher will provide a list of discussion questions to guide the conversation.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: In pairs, students will take turns drawing pictures to represent vocabulary words from the article. The other student must guess the word based on the drawing. They can use their dictionaries to look up definitions if needed.

– Synonym Challenge
Instructions: In pairs, students will identify synonyms for key words or phrases from the article. They can use their dictionaries or thesauruses to help them. The pair that comes up with the most synonyms wins.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: In small groups, students will discuss the pros and cons of using text and WhatsApp for job offers. They will take turns sharing their ideas and opinions, and try to come to a consensus as a group.

🤔 Comprehension Questions:

1. What are people losing because of fake job offers sent by text and WhatsApp?
2. Did more people report these tricks to Action Fraud this year compared to last year?
3. What do the police think about the number of people who have been tricked?
4. How do the bad people steal money or bank information?
5. How much money did Bella lose because of a fake job offer?
6. What did the bad people do with Bella’s card information?
7. What is Bella doing to try to get her money back?
Go to answers ⇩

🎧✍️ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

People are (1)______ more money because of fake job offers (2)______ by text and WhatsApp. A lot more (3)______ told Action Fraud about these tricks this year than last year. The police think that even more people have been tricked but haven’t said anything. These bad people make someone think they can get a job, but then they (4)______ their money or bank information.

A lady (5)______ Bella lost almost £3,000 because of a fake job offer. She got messages and calls that she thought were for a (6)______ job. But the bad people got her card information and took her money to buy something called cryptocurrency. Bella’s bank won’t give her money back, so she’s working extra as a waitress to get her money back.

A (7)______ named Dr. Lis (8)______ says these tricks are complicated and happen in many (9)______. The bad people use special words to get important information like your name and bank details. They might ask for a little money first, saying you’ll get it back later. But once you (10)______ them money, they might (11)______ asking for more. To stop these tricks, everyone needs to work together, including the (12)______, police, and businesses.
Go to answers ⇩

💬 Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a fake job offer?
2. How would you feel if someone tricked you and stole your money?
3. Do you like using text messages and WhatsApp? Why or why not?
4. Do you think the police should do more to catch these bad people? Why or why not?
5. What is cryptocurrency?
6. How do you think Bella feels about losing her money?
7. Have you ever received a suspicious message or call? What did you do?
8. Do you think it’s fair that Bella’s bank won’t give her money back? Why or why not?
9. What do you think can be done to stop these tricks?
10. How would you feel if someone asked you for money and promised to give it back later?
11. Do you think businesses should do more to protect people from these scams? Why or why not?
12. Have you ever heard of someone being tricked by a fake job offer? What happened?

Individual Activities

📖💭 Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. fraud
2. tricks
3. cryptocurrency
4. waitress
5. complicated
6. steps
7. special
8. important
9. details
10. government
11. businesses
12. extra

Meanings:
(A) The group of people who make the rules for a country
(B) Places where people sell things or offer services
(C) Hard to understand or do
(D) A type of money that only exists on computers and the internet
(E) Parts of a process or a dance
(F) A woman who serves food at a restaurant
(G) More than what is usual or needed
(H) Not like the others, unique or for a specific purpose
(I) When someone lies to take your money
(J) Sneaky ways to fool someone
(K) Something that you should really care about
(L) Small pieces of information
Go to answers ⇩

🔡 Multiple Choice Questions:

1. How are people losing money because of fake job offers?
(a) They give the bad people their card information willingly.
(b) The government takes their money as a punishment.
(c) The bad people steal their money or bank information.
(d) They spend their money on cryptocurrency.

2. Who is Bella?
(a) A teacher who helps people avoid fake job offers.
(b) A lady who lost money because of a fake job offer.
(c) A police officer who catches the bad people.
(d) A government official who investigates fake job offers.

3. Why won’t Bella’s bank give her money back?
(a) Because she spent her money on cryptocurrency.
(b) Because she didn’t report the fake job offer to the police.
(c) Because she didn’t work extra as a waitress.
(d) Because she willingly gave her card information to the bad people.

4. What do the bad people do to get important information?
(a) They send fake job offers through text and WhatsApp.
(b) They steal money from people’s bank accounts.
(c) They work together with the government and police.
(d) They use special words to trick people into giving their name and bank details.

5. What might the bad people ask for first?
(a) The person’s name and bank details.
(b) Help from the government and police.
(c) A little money.
(d) A real job offer.

6. What does Dr. Lis Carter say about these tricks?
(a) They are complicated and happen in many steps.
(b) They are easy to understand and avoid.
(c) They only happen to people who are not careful.
(d) They are not a big problem and don’t need to be stopped.

7. Who needs to work together to stop these tricks?
(a) Only the victims of the fake job offers.
(b) Everyone, including the government, police, and businesses.
(c) Only the banks and financial institutions.
(d) Only the bad people who send the fake job offers.

8. What is the main message of the article?
(a) Fake job offers sent through text and WhatsApp are causing people to lose money.
(b) Bella lost money because she didn’t report the fake job offer to the police.
(c) Dr. Lis Carter thinks fake job offers are not a big problem.
(d) The government, police, and businesses need to work together to stop fake job offers.

Go to answers ⇩

🕵️ True or False Questions:

1. The bad people who sent Bella the genuine job offer used her card information to buy cryptocurrency.
2. Bella lost almost £3,000 because she fell for a fake job offer.
3. Bella’s bank willingly provided her money back, so she is working extra as a waitress to earn it back.
4. More people have reported fake job offers sent through text and WhatsApp this year compared to last year.
5. The police believe that there are even more people who have been tricked but haven’t reported it.
6. Real job offers trick people into giving away their money or bank information.
7. A teacher named Dr. Lis Carter says that these tricks are complicated and happen in many steps.
8. To encourage these tricks, it is important for everyone, excluding the government, police, and businesses, to work together.
Go to answers ⇩

📝 Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. What is happening to people because of fake job offers sent through text and WhatsApp?
2. Why do the police think that more people have been tricked but haven’t said anything?
3. How did Bella lose her money because of a fake job offer?
4. Why won’t Bella’s bank give her money back?
5. According to Dr. Lis Carter, what do the bad people do to get important information from people?

✅ Answers

🤔✅ Comprehension Question Answers:

1. People are losing money because of fake job offers sent by text and WhatsApp.
2. Yes, more people reported these tricks to Action Fraud this year compared to last year.
3. The police think that even more people have been tricked but haven’t said anything.
4. The bad people steal money or bank information by tricking people into giving them their card information or by getting them to send money.
5. Bella lost almost £3,000 because of a fake job offer.
6. The bad people used Bella’s card information to buy something called cryptocurrency.
7. Bella is working extra as a waitress to try to get her money back.
Go back to questions ⇧

🎧✍️✅ Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) losing
(2) sent
(3) people
(4) steal
(5) named
(6) real
(7) teacher
(8) Carter
(9) steps
(10) give
(11) keep
(12) government
Go back to questions ⇧

📖💭✅ Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. fraud
Answer: (I) When someone lies to take your money

2. tricks
Answer: (J) Sneaky ways to fool someone

3. cryptocurrency
Answer: (D) A type of money that only exists on computers and the internet

4. waitress
Answer: (F) A woman who serves food at a restaurant

5. complicated
Answer: (C) Hard to understand or do

6. steps
Answer: (E) Parts of a process or a dance

7. special
Answer: (H) Not like the others, unique or for a specific purpose

8. important
Answer: (K) Something that you should really care about

9. details
Answer: (L) Small pieces of information

10. government
Answer: (A) The group of people who make the rules for a country

11. businesses
Answer: (B) Places where people sell things or offer services

12. extra
Answer: (G) More than what is usual or needed
Go back to questions ⇧

🔡✅ Multiple Choice Answers:

1. How are people losing money because of fake job offers?
Answer: (c) The bad people steal their money or bank information.

2. Who is Bella?
Answer: (b) A lady who lost money because of a fake job offer.

3. Why won’t Bella’s bank give her money back?
Answer: (d) Because she willingly gave her card information to the bad people.

4. What do the bad people do to get important information?
Answer: (d) They use special words to trick people into giving their name and bank details.

5. What might the bad people ask for first?
Answer: (c) A little money.

6. What does Dr. Lis Carter say about these tricks?
Answer: (a) They are complicated and happen in many steps.

7. Who needs to work together to stop these tricks?
Answer: (b) Everyone, including the government, police, and businesses.

8. What is the main message of the article?
Answer: (a) Fake job offers sent through text and WhatsApp are causing people to lose money.
Go back to questions ⇧

🕵️✅ True or False Answers:

1. The bad people who sent Bella the genuine job offer used her card information to buy cryptocurrency. (Answer: False)
2. Bella lost almost £3,000 because she fell for a fake job offer. (Answer: True)
3. Bella’s bank willingly provided her money back, so she is working extra as a waitress to earn it back. (Answer: False)
4. More people have reported fake job offers sent through text and WhatsApp this year compared to last year. (Answer: True)
5. The police believe that there are even more people who have been tricked but haven’t reported it. (Answer: True)
6. Real job offers trick people into giving away their money or bank information. (Answer: False)
7. A teacher named Dr. Lis Carter says that these tricks are complicated and happen in many steps. (Answer: True)
8. To encourage these tricks, it is important for everyone, excluding the government, police, and businesses, to work together. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧