Scam Glossary — A to Z of Fraud Terms
Plain-English definitions of every scam term, tactic, and pattern we cover. Press Cmd/Ctrl+F to find any term on this page, or jump to a letter below.
Advance-Fee Scam
Victim is asked to pay a small fee upfront to receive a much larger payout — inheritance, lottery winnings, business deal. The promised payout never arrives. Classic “Nigerian prince” variant is one example.
Affinity Fraud
Scam targeting members of a specific community (religious, ethnic, professional, elderly) by exploiting shared trust. The scammer often belongs — or pretends to belong — to the same group.
AI Deepfake Scam
Scammer uses AI-generated voice cloning, video, or images to impersonate a real person — a CEO, a family member, a celebrity — to convince the victim to send money or share information.
Authority Impersonation
Scammer poses as a trusted authority — police, IRS/HMRC, FBI, bank fraud team — to pressure the victim into urgent action (paying a fine, “securing” their account, transferring funds).
Bank Impersonation Scam
Scammer claims to be from the victim’s bank fraud team and convinces them to “secure” their account by transferring funds to a “safe” account (actually the scammer’s).
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Scammer hacks or spoofs a business email and asks an employee to wire money or send sensitive documents. Often impersonates a CEO or vendor.
Catfishing
Creating a fake online persona to deceive someone — usually into a romantic or emotional relationship — typically as a precursor to financial fraud.
Charity Scam
Fake charity solicits donations, especially after natural disasters or tragedies. The “charity” is fictitious or impersonates a real one. Donations go to the scammer.
Chargeback
The legitimate process by which a victim disputes a credit-card transaction with their card issuer to recover funds from a fraudulent merchant. A key recovery tool.
Crypto Investment Scam
Scammer convinces victim to invest in fake cryptocurrency platforms or schemes. Often combined with romance scams (pig butchering). Funds shown on a fake “dashboard” disappear when victim tries to withdraw.
Deepfake Scam
See AI Deepfake Scam. Uses AI to clone someone’s voice or face to deceive victims — often family members or executives.
Doxxing
The practice of publishing private personal information about a target online — often used in extortion or sextortion scams.
Digital Arrest Scam
Caller poses as police, CBI, or customs on a video call and claims the victim is under “digital arrest” — held on camera for hours until they transfer money. No such legal process exists. Common in India.
Employment / Job-Offer Scam
Fake job listings or unsolicited job offers used to extract personal information, ask for upfront “equipment” fees, or recruit unwitting money mules.
Extortion Scam
Threatens to release damaging information, photos, or videos unless paid. Often baseless threats sent to mass email lists. See also Sextortion.
Enkeltrick (Grandchild Trick)
German term for the grandparent scam — a caller impersonates a relative in distress and pressures an elderly victim into handing over cash or valuables.
Fake Job Scam
See Employment Scam. Listings on LinkedIn, Indeed, or via direct message offering remote work that requires upfront payment for equipment, training, or “verification.”
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
Psychological pressure used in investment and crypto scams to rush victims into decisions — “this opportunity ends today,” “only 3 spots left.”
Gift-Card Scam
Scammer demands payment via gift cards (Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Steam). Once codes are shared, funds are unrecoverable. Common in IRS, romance, and “tech support” scams.
Grandparent Scam
Scammer impersonates a grandchild in distress (in jail, in hospital, stranded abroad) and asks an elderly grandparent for emergency funds. Increasingly uses AI-cloned voices.
Identity Theft
Stealing personal information (SSN, ID, banking details) to impersonate the victim and open accounts, take loans, or commit fraud in their name.
Investment Scam
Catch-all for fraud involving fake investment opportunities — crypto, forex, real estate, stocks, “high-return” schemes. Usually involves a fake platform showing fake returns.
Money Mule
A person — often unwittingly recruited via fake jobs — who receives and forwards stolen money on behalf of scammers. Money mules face serious legal consequences.
Phishing
Sending fake emails, texts, or messages that appear to be from a legitimate source (bank, government, employer) to trick victims into sharing credentials or clicking malicious links.
Pig Butchering (Sha Zhu Pan)
A long-running romance + investment scam. Scammer builds trust over weeks via dating apps or Telegram, then convinces the victim to invest in a fake crypto platform. Originated from Chinese organised crime.
Ponzi Scheme
Pays existing investors with funds from new investors, creating an illusion of returns. Collapses when new investors stop joining. Named after Charles Ponzi.
Pyramid Scheme
Recruitment-based scheme where each member must recruit others to earn money. Mathematically guaranteed to collapse — most participants lose money.
Quishing (QR Code Scam)
Phishing using malicious QR codes placed on parking meters, restaurant menus, posters. Scanning leads to a fake login page that captures credentials or installs malware.
Recovery Scam
A second-stage scam targeting people who have already lost money. The scammer poses as a “recovery service,” “scam-recovery lawyer,” or “asset retrieval agent” and charges upfront fees to “recover” funds — then disappears.
Romance Scam
Scammer builds a fake romantic relationship over weeks or months on dating apps, social media, or messaging platforms — then asks for money for emergencies, travel, business problems, or investment.
Sextortion
Threatens to release intimate images or video — real or fabricated — unless paid. Often uses social engineering or hacked webcam claims (most are bluffs). Devastating psychologically.
SIM-Swap Attack
Scammer convinces a phone carrier to transfer the victim’s phone number to a new SIM card under their control. They then bypass SMS-based two-factor authentication.
Smishing
SMS phishing. Fake text messages impersonating banks, government, parcel services, tollway operators, or tax authorities. Usually contains a malicious link.
Social Engineering
Psychological manipulation techniques scammers use to bypass logical thinking — urgency, authority, fear, reciprocity, sympathy, scarcity.
Spoofing
Faking the origin of a communication — phone number, email address, sender name — to make it appear to come from a trusted source. Used in caller ID spoofing, email spoofing, and SMS sender-ID spoofing.
Tax-Refund Scam
Texts or emails impersonating IRS, HMRC, or your national tax authority claiming a refund is available — but you must click a link and “verify” your bank details. The bank details are stolen.
Tech-Support Scam
Pop-up warning or unsolicited call claims your computer is infected. The “support agent” gains remote access and either installs real malware, locks files for ransom, or charges for fake repairs.
Tollway / Parking-Fine Scam
Texts impersonating a tollway operator (E-ZPass, Sunpass, NCDMV) or parking authority demanding a small unpaid fee — usually $5-$15 — via a link. Designed to harvest card details.
Vishing
Voice phishing — phone-call-based scams using social engineering. Often spoofs bank fraud lines, IRS, or police. Increasingly uses AI voice generation.
Wallet Drainer
Malicious smart contract or signature request that, once approved by a crypto-wallet user, transfers all their assets to the attacker. Common in fake airdrops and NFT scams.
Wire Fraud
Fraud committed via wire transfers (e.g. SWIFT, ACH, Fedwire). Once wired, funds are extremely difficult to recover — typically requires fast bank action within hours.
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This glossary grows with reader contributions and emerging scam patterns.
Last reviewed: May 2026 · Growing every month