Vocabulary to talk about hacking and scamming

Hacks and scams

A victim is the person who is harmed by a crime.

To target somebody means to choose that person and attack them. Criminals target certain types of people who are more likely to be vulnerable, such as an old person living alone.

A scam is an illegal plan to trick somebody in order to get money.

To get into somebody’s computer or email, for example, to steal information or to get into somebody’s bank account to steal money.

A person who hacks into somebody else’s computer or account.

This is when hackers try to trick you into giving them personal information on the internet, often by sending you an email and asking you to click on a link and confirm your details.

This is “voice phishing”. Instead of sending an email, the hackers phone you to get into your accounts.

This describes a wide range of criminal activities which involve tricking or deceiving somebody to get money.

To commit fraud, to illegally take something from somebody by tricking them.

This means tricking people on social media or dating websites by pretending to be somebody else, usually somebody attractive!

These phrasal verbs both mean to be deceived, to believe something that isn’t true. (He fell for it / He was taken in = He was deceived.)

This is an informal way to say that you’ve been tricked or deceived.