どうも。
それでは行きます。
音声は「杉田敏の現代ビジネス英語」無料リスニングページ 2023年度 | NHK出版 (nhk-book.co.jp)で13日まで聞けます。
Guarding against scams (2)
SUMMARY
今では小切手詐欺は、ホテルの一室やアパートで行う三流の詐欺師たちの仕業ではありません。小切手詐欺は巧妙な犯罪行為になっていて、被害総額は年間180億ドルに上り、毎日100万枚を超える小切手が巻き込まれているそうです。小切手詐欺の種類で最も一般的なのは、いわゆる小切手ウォッシングです。
(杉田敏の現代ビジネス英語 音声ページより)
VIGNETTE
Jane Rosenberg: And it's not safe to leave checks and envelopes in the mailbox with the red flag up any more.
Ide Kyohei: Nowadays, check fraud isn't carried out by small time crooks operating from a hotel room or apartment. It's become a sophisticated criminal operation with individuals infiltrating post office distribution centers, setting up fake businesses or creating fake IDs to deposit the checks. I recently read that check fraud losses total eighteen billion dollars annually, and over a million checks are involved daily.
Frank Saloom: Once fraud occurs, money laundering typically follows to make the illicit funds appear legitimate in the hands of the criminals. The most common type of check fraud is known as check washing, where criminals alter the payee's name on the check. They sometimes increase the amount by adding extra zeros, resulting in hundreds or thousands of dollars. After depositing the checks, the criminals quickly withdraw the funds through ATMs or wire them to other accounts before the fraudulent checks are discovered.
Jane Rosenberg: The combination of increased criminal sophistication and weak enforcement has fueled this ongoing cycle of theft. Digital payments often provide better consumer protection for many transactions.
Frank Saloom: You know, these impostor scams have been around for years. It's really alarming how scammers reach out to grandparents and pretend their grandchild is in some sort of trouble, like a car accident, jail, or even a kidnapping.
WORDS AND PHRASES
red flag 危険信号、赤旗
small time 三流の、小物の
crook 詐欺師、悪党
sophisticated 巧妙な
criminal operation 犯罪活動、犯罪行為
infiltrate 潜入する
Undercover agents infiltrated the gang to obtain evidence of its crimes. If I infiltrate somewhere, I get in secretly, without people knowing who I really am or what I'm really doing. And this could be done for good reasons and bad.
set up ～を開業する、～を設立する
ID(identification) 身分証明書
deposit お金を銀行などに預ける
loss 損失、損失額、被害、被害額
total 合計して～になる
be involved 関係している、巻き込まれる
typically 一般的に
illicit 違法な
Five people were arrested for making illicit campaign donations. Illicit thing are illegal, unlawful, criminal. Or be careful with the spelling. We also have the word elicit, which means to draw out, or bring out. Elicit applause, for example, or elicit donations.
legitimate まともな、本物の
in the hands of someone 人の手中に落ちて、人の管理下に
alter 変える
withdraw 預金を引き出す
wire 電信送金する
fraudulent 詐欺の
sophistication 巧妙化
enforcement (法律・規則などの)施行・実施
fuel あおる、たきつける
The market sharp rise has been fueled by AI-related stocks. Here, fuel is a verb meaning stimulate, promote, add power to as if adding fuels to fire.
ongoing 進行中の
cycle of theft 窃盗の循環、盗難の連鎖
impostor 身分詐称者、他人の名をかたる人
Carol knew the man was an impostor when he asked her PIN number. An impostor pretends to be someone else. They present themselves as a person they are not.
be around 存在している
alarming 驚異的な
pretend ふりをする、装う
kidnapping 誘拐
やっぱりリスニングが落ちてますね。だいぶわからないところがありました。