Ethiopia's biggest bank, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), has announced that it has gotten back almost $10 million of the $14 million it lost due to a technical problem. This problem allowed customers to take out more money than they had in their accounts. The head of the bank, Abe Sano, said that many customers returned the money on their own, but warned that those who didn't would face criminal charges. Most of the money was taken out by university students who found out about the problem through messaging apps and phone calls. The bank wants customers to know that their personal accounts were not affected and that the problem wasn't caused by a cyber-attack.
Many universities have asked students to return any money that wasn't theirs. The CBE is working with the police to report customers and believes that they will be able to find and hold them responsible for what they did. At first, it was said that over $40 million was lost because of the problem. However, it has been harder for the bank to track money sent to other banks compared to money moved to another CBE account. The problem caused a total of 490,000 transactions before it was found.
The CBE has been around for 82 years and has over 38 million people with accounts. They haven't given specific details about the technical problem that caused the issue. But they want people to know that their personal accounts are safe. Getting back a big part of the lost money is good news for the bank and shows that they are working hard to fix the problem. This situation reminds us how important it is to have strong technical systems and for customers to act responsibly when things like this happen.
Original news source: Customers return $10m taken during bank glitch (BBC)
π§ Listen:
π Vocabulary:
Group or Classroom Activities
Warm-up Activities:
– News Summary
Instructions: In pairs or small groups, students will read the article and then summarize the main points in their own words. They can take turns presenting their summaries to the class.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Students will form pairs or small groups and discuss their opinions on the bank's response to the technical problem. They will then create a poll with questions related to the topic and survey their classmates. Finally, they will present their findings to the class.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Divide the class into two teams. Each team will take turns choosing a word from the article and drawing it on the board. The other team will have to guess the word based on the drawing. The team with the most correct guesses wins.
– Headline Creation
Instructions: In pairs, students will create a catchy headline for the article. They should aim to capture the main idea and attract readers' attention. After coming up with their headlines, they will present them to the class and explain their choices.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions: In small groups, students will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the bank's approach to dealing with the technical problem. They should consider different perspectives and present their arguments to the class.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
The bank experienced a technical problem that allowed customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts.
The bank has recovered almost $10 million of the $14 million it lost.
University students were the main people taking out more money than they had in their accounts.
They found out about the problem through messaging apps and phone calls.
The bank is working with the police to report customers and believes that they will be able to find and hold them responsible for what they did.
It was harder for the bank to track money sent to other banks compared to money moved to another CBE account because it is more difficult to trace transactions outside of their own system.
A total of 490,000 transactions were made before the problem was discovered.
It is important for banks to have strong technical systems to prevent issues like this from happening and to protect their customers' accounts.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
Ethiopia's biggest bank, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), has announced that it has gotten back almost $10 million of the $14 million it lost due to a technical . This problem allowed customers to take out more than they had in their . The head of the bank, Abe Sano, said that many customers returned the money on their own, but warned that those who didn't would face criminal . Most of the money was taken out by university students who found out about the problem through messaging apps and phone calls. The bank wants to know that their personal accounts were not and that the problem wasn't caused by a cyber-attack. Many have asked students to return any money that wasn't theirs. The CBE is working with the police to report customers and that they will be able to find and hold them responsible for what they did. At first, it was said that over $40 million was lost because of the problem. However, it has been harder for the bank to track money sent to other compared to money to another CBE account. The problem a of 490,000 transactions before it was found. The CBE has been around for 82 years and has over 38 million people with accounts. They haven't given details about the technical problem that caused the issue. But they want people to know that their personal accounts are safe. Getting back a big part of the lost money is good news for the bank and that they are working hard to fix the problem. This reminds us how it is to have strong technical systems and for customers to act responsibly when things like this happen.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a technical problem?
2. How would you feel if you found out your bank lost money due to a technical problem?
3. Do you think it's fair for the bank to charge criminal charges against those who didn't return the money they took out?
4. Why do you think university students took out the most money during this problem?
5. What do you think messaging apps and phone calls have to do with this problem?
6. How would you feel if your university asked you to return money that wasn't yours?
7. Do you think the police will be able to find and hold the customers responsible for what they did?
8. Why do you think it's harder for the bank to track money sent to other banks compared to money moved to another CBE account?
9. How important do you think it is to have strong technical systems in banks?
10. How do you think customers should act responsibly when problems like this happen?
11. What do you think the bank could have done to prevent this problem from happening?
12. Why do you think the bank hasn't given specific details about the technical problem?
13. How do you think the bank was able to get back a big part of the lost money?
14. Do you think this situation will make customers lose trust in the bank?
15. Why do you think it's important for the bank to fix the problem and get back the lost money?
Individual Activities
ππ Vocabulary Meanings:
Click a dot next to a word, then click the dot next to its meaning to draw a line connecting them.
Words
Meanings
π‘ Multiple Choice Questions:
π΅οΈ True or False Questions:
π Write a Summary:
Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.
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