Raise a red flag
Today’s expression is to “raise a red flag.” A suspicious or unusual activity raises a red flag if it causes you to worry. I’ll give you plenty of examples, but the thing to keep in mind is that it’s an activity, not a person, who raises a red flag.
In today’s lesson, we were talking about the money laundering scam on dating apps . Criminal organizations need to move money around the world. But they know if they just sent large amounts directly to their destination, it will raise a red flag. So instead, they have people on dating apps send the money in small amounts and via gift cards.
If they send the amounts directly, it will raise a red flag: it will cause banks to be suspicious. Banks analyze transactions every day, all day, all night. They’re looking for unusual movement of money. They have to; it’s the law. So if you need to move $100,000 of illegal money every week, you can’t just send it in one transaction to the same account every time. That would raise a red flag with the bank. The bank would see that and become suspicious, freeze your account, and report you to the government. That move would raise a red flag.
So instead, the fraudsters have Jane Doe of Anytown, USA send the money in smaller amounts in different directions. That is less likely to raise a red flag if it’s coming from an ordinary citizen and if the amounts are smaller. And that is how the criminal organizations use unsuspecting dating app users to launder money.
Notice that it’s the activity, not a person that raises the red flag. I run an online business. If someone tries to log into my site unsuccessfully hundreds of times, that raises a red flag and the account is automatically locked. Trying to log in too many times raises a red flag: it’s a behavior that makes me suspicious. I don’t want someone trying to break into another person’s account, so I have software that detects this activity. The activity raises a red flag.
I’ve mentioned in several lessons that the housing market is very competitive these days: prices for detached homes in America and Canada are high. Sellers have all the leverage. Some home sellers are telling potential buyers that they can’t have a comprehensive home inspection before they buy the home. That would raise a red flag with me. In the US, it’s very common for a buyer to hire an engineer to inspect a home before they sign on the dotted line. If you don’t do that, you could wind up with a house that has a lot of expensive problems.
But today, sellers have the leverage. There’s a lot of competition. And some sellers are saying, you know what? We don’t want to have an inspection. So if you want to buy this house, you have to agree not to have an inspection. That would raise a red flag for me. That would cause me to be suspicious. What are they hiding? I wouldn’t buy a home without getting an inspection.
We talked on Monday about how hard it is to find workers . If you’re trying to fill positions, you’ll be reading a lot of resumes. A large gap on an applicant’s resume should raise a red flag. If a candidate has listed his or her entire work history, step by step, year by year, but there are three years missing, then that’s a red flag. Being unemployed for a few months, even a year, isn’t uncommon. But an unexplained gap on a resume should raise a red flag. It should make you suspicious: it’s not automatically bad, but you should ask about it in the interview.
JR’s song of the week
JR has a song for us this week, just like every week. Today’s song is “Kauai O’o” by the artist Blanco White. The song is about a bird called the Kauai O’o, which used to live in Hawaii, but is now extinct. Josh Edwards, who is the artist called Blanco White, said he heard a recording of this bird and it filled him with sadness to know that the bird no longer exists, so he wrote a song about it. “Kauai O’o” by Blanco White is the song of the week; thank you JR for that.
See you next time!
That’s all for today, June 24, 2021. If you enjoyed this lesson, you can find even more on our web site at PlainEnglish.com/375. That’s where you can find a free transcript of the audio, links to articles about today’s topic, and extra vocabulary. Plain English Plus+ members also get a fast version of the audio, translations into nine languages, listening exercises, and pronunciation exercises. The video lesson shows you how to talk about ongoing actions with “go on.” And Plus+ members can practice creating their own examples using the expression “red flag,” and as always I’ll review them and give you pointers.
If you’re not yet a member of Plain English Plus+, you can sign up today at PlainEnglish.com/Plus. See you on Monday.
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