2024年2月13日发(作者：)

3 Choose the best way to complete these sentences

1 The film Catch Me If You Can (c) .

(a) was written by Carl Hanratty

(b) shows how you can steal someone’s identity

(c) was based on the life of Frank Abagnale

(d) shows how to protect yourself against identity theft

2 The writer uses the film Catch Me If You Can to (d) .

(a) illustrate what good actors Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio are

(b) explain the work of the FBI

(c) show how to get personal information from computers

(d) introduce the idea of identity theft (This is an example of a hook, to attract and

catch readers.)

3 The writer says that most victims of identity theft (a) .

(a) are not known to the thieves

(b) are white-collar criminals

(c) are rich and famous people

(d) forget to cancel their credit cards

4 The writer gives some practical hints for (b) .

(a) accessing someone’s computer

(b) preventing someone from stealing your identity

(c) destroying documents

(d) catching identity thieves

5 The writer suggests that identity theft (c) .

(a) was more common in the past than it is today

(b) can be avoided if you’re careful

(c) is very likely to happen to you (This can be seen in the final paragraph.)

(d) only happens to people who use computers

4 Match the words in the box with their definitions.

1 the crime of obtaining money from someone by tricking them (fraud)

2 something done to protect people or things against possible harm or trouble (precaution)

3 the act of tricking someone by telling them something that is not true (deception)

4 rubbish such as paper and plastic bags (trash)

5 used in homes, or relating to homes (household)

6 from one evening to the next morning (overnight)

5 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words and phrase in the

box.

1 It is clearly distressing to be the victim of a crime. (obviously)

2 Your computer is at risk when you are connected to the Internet. (online)

3 You don’t need to switch your computer off, but remember to sign out of the program

when you leave your desk. (log off)

4 These sorts of crimes are not unusual, they often happen. (commonplace)

5 He developed a way to create false documents to show qualifications he didn’t have.

(forge)

6 Answer the questions about the words

1 If you impersonate someone, do you (a) sell information about that person, or (b)

pretend to be that person?

2 Is a fraudster (a) a violent, dangerous criminal, or (b) a criminal who deceives people?

3 Is someone in custody (a) held by the police, or (b) committing a crime?

4 Is a consultancy (a) a company that offers advice, or (b) someone who breaks the law?

5 When you leave your mail for pickup, do you expect (a) the mailman to collect it, or (b)

to find it when you come home?

6 When you shred documents, do you (a) tear them into small pieces, or (b) keep them

carefully?

7 Is an anonymous person (a) famous, or (b) unknown?

8 Is your mindset (a) information about you, or (b) the way you think?

9 Is hacking (a) illegally accessing a computer to get information, or (b) damaging a

computer programme and destroying information?

7 Look at these sentences from the passage and answer the questions.

If you use a ballpoint pen, the ink can be removed with the help of a regular

household chemical and the sum of money can be changed.

1 Why does the writer include this information?

(a) To teach the reader how to commit cheque fraud.

(b) To warn the reader about how criminals commit check fraud. (It should worry

us to think how easily someone could change our check / documents.)

(c) To give advice about how to write checks.

So how can we prevent identity theft before it happens to us?

2 Why does the writer ask this question?

(a) Because he wants the reader to make suggestions.

(b) Because he wants to make the reader focus on the answer. (Such rhetorical

questions are a feature of persuasive writing.)

(c) Because he doesn't know the answer.

Your turn will come.

3 What is the writer trying to do?

(a) To warn the reader that identity fraud is very likely. (To some degree this is

the same as frightening the reader, but the aim is not a thrill such one obtains

from a horror movie, but a stimulus towards a practical result – precautions.)

(b) To frighten the reader.

(c) To explain to the reader that they have to wait for something to happen.

Active reading (1)

窃取的身份

“弗兰克从未上过飞行学校、医学院、法学院……因为他还在上高中。”

这是2002年的电影《有种来抓我》的剧情简介。影片讲述了弗兰克·小阿巴格纳尔（列奥纳多·迪卡普里欧饰演）的故事，影片主人公是一位聪明绝顶的年轻骗术大师，曾在不同时间扮演医生、律师和飞行员的角色，在26个国家伪造了价值六百万美元以上的支票。他成了联邦调查局伪造罪头号通缉令名单上最年轻的人。在影片中，阿巴格纳尔被虚构的联邦调查局特工卡尔·汉拉提（汤姆·汉克斯饰演）追捕，但后来逃脱了。他最终成了联邦调查局专攻白领犯罪的顾问专家。

那是一部很棒的电影，但那种事情会在现实生活中发生吗？其实，《有种来抓我》是根据弗兰克·阿巴格纳尔的真实故事改编的，他的行骗生涯持续了六年；被抓住后，曾三次逃脱监管（有一次是从飞机上的厕所逃走的）；在法国、瑞典和美国的监狱中总共度过了六年时光。他现在开办了一家咨询事务所，为企业界提供防造假咨询。他挣到了足够的钱，赔付了所有的受害者，如今是一位数百万富翁。

2003年以来，身份盗窃案变得越来越常见。很少有人会想象到，为了防止改变人生的犯罪，像把邮件拿到邮局去寄而不是丢在信箱里等人来取、把文件切碎而不是直接把它们连同垃圾一道扔出去，甚至使用价值一两块美元的笔之类的事情已经变得多么重要。

越来越多的人正在变成身份盗窃案的无名受害者。我们花费许多时间和金钱，去努力挽回我们的名字、我们的信用、我们的钱和我们的生活。我们需要想方设法来保护自己。我们可以增加防止此类犯罪的机会，但是它永远不会消失。

这不仅仅是要求我们列一份“该做”和“不该做”的事情的单子，我们需要改变我们的心态。虽然网上银行现在很常见，但国内有一大群人——生育高峰时期出生的一代人，占人口的15％——还是更喜欢用纸。而且，30％的诈骗案都发生在这群人当中。支票上有身份盗贼所需的你的所有信息。如果你用圆珠笔，笔迹可以用一般的家用化学药品除去，钱数可以改变。每天发出的有问题的支票高达一千两百万以上，平均每秒13张以上。

支票造假是个大产业……每年以25％的速率增长。犯罪分子指望我们犯错误，好让他们更容易得手。那么我们怎样才能在身份盗窃发生之前就防范它呢？

采取一些预防措施。不要把你的邮件留在邮箱里过夜或过周末。小偷就等着危险信号的出现，以便通过你向外投寄的邮件找寻有用的个人信息或支票。用签字笔填写支票和重要表格，签字笔的墨水会渗进纸张的纤维中，无法用化学药品除去。还有，切碎或撕碎含有个人信息的所有文件，然后再把它们丢进垃圾桶。

记住，网络上有大量机会可以被小偷利用来根据你自己的身份伪造假身份。我们都知道黑客行为和木马软件对电脑数据库中个人信息的威胁。但是在谷歌上搜索某人也会透露大量个人信息，在线社交网站如“我的空间”、“相册”和“毕波”也一样。正如我们离开办公室去厕所时要随身带上钱包一样，注销你的电脑以防临时起意的盗窃也是值得的。

最后一点，假如你遭遇较传统方式的抢劫——在大街上——挂失你的信用卡显然是要做的第一件事。但是别忘了，即使挂了失，信用卡也可以用作身份证来获得购物卡……那你就有了犯罪记录。

身份伪造可以肆行多年而不为受害者所知。一个无法回避的事实是：现在的诈骗者觉得身份犯罪简直是太容易了。如果你的身份尚未失窃，那只是因为他们还没有对你动手。就会轮到你的。