[ABC] FACEBOOK SCAM: PREYING ON FAMILY

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FACEBOOK SCAM: PREYING ON FAMILY

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): And now [1]a scam sweeping the country, 25,000 complaints, [2]cheating people out of $100 million just last year alone.  Thieves who can [3]imitate the voices of your children, your friends, your grandchildren and [4]trick you into sending them emergency money.  ABC News's Ron Claiborne shows us [5]the clever way they do it.

RON CLAIBORNE : They are [6]the sweetest of victims of the cruelest of scams, [7]one that preys on the love of a grandma or grandpa for unscrupulous profit.

ANN WARREN (GRANDPARENT): And he said they want $2,400, grandma.  I know it's an awful lot of money, but can you please, please.

RON CLAIBORNE : Ann Warren was sure it was her grandson Matthew on the phone from Barcelona, with [8]a story of woe that included a car crash, [9]a jailhouse stay and [10]demands for restitution by Spanish police.

ANN WARREN : I was determined to help my grandson.

RON CLAIBORNE (ABC NEWS)(VO): [11]Tricked by the voice on the end of the line, she [12]wired the money, twice.  How do these scammers do it?

RON CLAIBORNE (ABC NEWS)(VO): TMI, [13]too much information posted online.  Using sites like Facebook, they [14]pull together convincing information, photos, so they can ask about your dog, Daisy or your new car.  And most useful of all, they can hear their voice in [15]the posted video and know even what they sound like.

POSTED VIDEO (FEMALE): Who's texting you?  Who's texting you?  Who's calling?

RON CLAIBORNE (ABC NEWS)(VO): I've known my cousin James all his life and I would do anything if he or his family needed help.  So I asked him to [16]record a fictitious plea just like the ones those scammers do.

JAMES (COUSIN): Hey, Ron.  This is your cousin James.  I'm sorry for the bad connection but I really need your help.  I'm in a lot of trouble.

JAMES (FAKE COUSIN): Hey, Ron.  This is your cousin James.

RON CLAIBORNE : Then had someone else study his voice to see if they could mimic him convincingly.

JAMES (FAKE COUSIN): Hey, Ron.  This is your cousin James.  Sorry for the bad connection, but I really need your help.  I'm in a lot of trouble.

RON CLAIBORNE : If I were concerned, I probably wouldn't notice the difference, which makes it truly admirable that this grandma finally became a kind of Sherlock Holmes.  On the third call, the thieves made a key mistake.

ANN WARREN (GRANDPARENT): And that's when he called himself Matt, not Matthew.

RON CLAIBORNE : A nickname her grandson never uses.  Ann called her son, who said that Matthew was at work in San Francisco.  But [17]the damage was done.  He was still apologizing when [18]we put them together on Skype.

MATTHEW (GRANDSON): I felt terrible.  I felt like there should have been something that I could have done.

STEVE BAKER (FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION): This is very, very, very widespread.  [19]It's ripping off thousands of people, just ordinary people just like you and me.

DIANE SAWYER : $100 million ripped off last year, Ron.  So you want to help your family, what do you do?

RON CLAIBORNE : Well, Diane, the most important thing you can do is [20]have a code word that's known only to family members and your best and closest friends so that if there is a real emergency, they can cite that code word.  As you heard, that fake call sounded very much like my real cousin James.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): Amazing.

RON CLAIBORNE : Almost exactly like him.  Very convincing.

DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): Simply amazing, but it's come to this, you have to have a code word for a phone call.  Thank you, Ron.

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[1] 전국적으로 횡행하는 사기, 2만 5천개의 신고건수

[2] 사람들이 1억 달러를 사기당하다

[3] 목소리를 흉내내다

[4] (여러분을) 속여서 그들에게 급하게 돈을 보내게 하다

[5] 그들의 교묘한 사기 방법

[6] 가장 잔인한 사기극의 가장 순진한 피해자들이다

[7] 사기를 치기 위해서 할머니 할아버지의 (손주) 사랑을 이용하다

[8] 걱정스러운 상황

[9] 유치장 수감

[10] 스페인 경찰의 배상 요구

[11] 전화 반대편의 목소리에 속아서

[12] 그 돈을 이체했다

[13] 인터넷에 너무 많은 정보가 공개되어 있다

[14] 믿을만한 정보, 사진들을 취합하다

[15] (온라인에) 올려진 동영상

[16] 가짜로 탄원하는 내용을 녹음하다

[17] 이미 피해는 입은 상태

[18] 우리가 그 둘을 스카이프에서 서로 연결시켰다

[19] 그런 식으로 수 천 명이 사기 피해를 입는다

[20] 가족들만 아는 비밀번호를 갖다