Accent: Northern Ireland
A scammer is someone who attempts to obtain money from people by deceiving or tricking them. Today, this often takes the form of email or phone scams.
This is an extract from an interview with a man who works to disrupt these scemes - he attempts to scam the scammers.
In this first extract, he explains why he uses an alias (a fake name).
About the sentence
...it was a spur of the moment thing...
If you do something on the spur of the moment, then you do it spontaneously, without planning it in advance.
A spur of the moment thing/decision is a spontaneous thing/decision.
e.g. I'm sorry we didn't invite you to the cinema with us. It was a spur of the moment thing, to be honest.
In the following extracts, the speaker explains how he operates.
About the sentence
...I lead on scammers...
If you lead someone on, you trick them into believing something isn't true. In this context, the man is making the scammers believe that their scam is working. In the process, they waste their time and increase the risk of getting caught.
e.g. She doesn't love you - she's just leading you on.
About the sentence
...I've been able to unravel a whole lot of scams...
If you unravel a knot or a piece of knitted fabric, you separate it into a single thread or threads. Someone can do this themselves (they unravel something) or it can happen by itself (it unravels).
e.g. My jumper is starting to unravel at the sleeves - I need to get it fixed.
We use this word metaphorically to say that something (often a plan) is going wrong or falling apart.
e.g. When the main investor pulled out, everything started to unravel quickly.
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