Thursday's Assignment:
Good morning everyone,
1. We have a 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.
2. 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
Underline 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
