Good morning everyone,
- We have few videos on phone interviews. Please click on the first link here and write down the steps the presenter has presented to start off any interview.
- Next, click on this link for a different telephone interviewing tips and list down all the dos and the don’ts that the speaker has mentioned
3- Read the following article about deceptive telemarketing and
then answer the following questions:
What is Deceptive Telemarketing?
Using the phone to obtain payment from you
for a non-existent or misrepresented product, service or charitable gift is
deceptive telemarketing. Using the phone to obtain your private banking information
or credit card number to steal is deceptive telemarketing. Offering you a prize
for which you must pay is deceptive telemarketing. Using the phone to obtain
your money fraudulently in any way is deceptive telemarketing. It is a serious
crime punishable by jail.
Telemarketing, the use of telephones to market goods and services,
has rapidly expanded in recent years. Sales in Canada now exceed $500 billion
dollars a year. Most of these telemarketing activities are legitimate but some
are not. Deceptive telemarketing practices have been a problem in Canada, with
cross-border implications, since the early 1970s. Telemarketing fraud has now
become one of the most pervasive forms of white-collar crime. In 1998, law
enforcement and other agencies reported over 45,000 complaints about fraudulent
telemarketing.
Since 1995, Canadians have lost approximately $200 million as a
result of this activity. Criminals are drawn to the offence by large proceeds
and relatively low risks of detection, prosecution and punishment. Since the
1980s, low-cost telecommunications have created economies of scale and provided
offenders with effective means of conducting potentially massive frauds. A
single telemarketer with a well-organized scheme can easily extort several hundred
thousand dollars per year from unsuspecting victims. In some cases, the high profits
have also attracted organized crime.
Target Groups and Victims
Offenders maximize their profits by focusing on vulnerable target
groups. Victims are not chosen at random but rather are methodically selected because
they have savings or assets and are perceived to be susceptible. Fraudulent telemarketers
often prey on seniors on the assumption that they may be more trusting and polite
toward strangers. Offenders have told police their ideal target is an elderly
person, home alone, with little or no contact with family members. Another
higher risk group is past victims. Once an individual has been identified as
being vulnerable, they are repeatedly targeted. Victim information is often
sold in the form of "sucker lists" or "hot lists" to other
offenders.
The Effects of Telemarketing
Fraud
The estimated $200 million lost by
Canadian victims of telemarketing fraud is only a small part of the cost of
this pervasive crime. Research conducted by North American law-enforcement and
police officials indicates that the elderly are not only more susceptible, but
they tend to be more seriously affected. Some have lost their life savings and
have been forced to sell their homes. Seniors are often reluctant to report the
crime to the authorities or even to family fearing they will be blamed for
being “careless” or “greedy.” Some fear they will be seen as incompetent and lose
control over their affairs.
Source: PhoneBusters: The Canadian Anti-fraud Call Centre,
www.phonebusters.com; extracted June 22,
2009, with permission
Find synonyms in the article for the
following words.
1. get 7. profits
2. dishonestly 8. very large; huge
3. increased in size 9. vulnerable
4. are more than 10. victimize
5. honest 11. unwilling
6. common 12. the object of attention
Circle True or False.
1. Fraudulent telemarketers sometimes
pretend to be legitimate charities seeking a donation. T F
2. All telemarketing is dishonest. T F
3. Many fraudulent telemarketers are never
caught and punished. T F
4. Fraudulent telemarketing is attractive
to criminals because of the potential to make
large amounts of money with little
investment. T F
5. Organized crime is responsible for most
telemarketing fraud. T F
6. Fraudulent telemarketers target seniors
because they have more money. T F
7. A victim of telemarketing fraud is at
higher risk of being victimized against. T F
8. Seniors may not report being victimized
by a telemarketing fraud because they
are afraid of what their family will say. T F
