Scam glossary

Plain definitions of the scam terms you keep hearing: what each one means, how to recognize it, and where to read more.

Account takeover

When a scammer gets into your account, often using a code you shared, and locks you out.

Advance-fee fraud

A scam promising a large payout, inheritance, lottery, or loan, if you first pay a smaller upfront fee.

Business email compromise (BEC)

A targeted email fraud that impersonates an executive or vendor to trick staff into wiring money or data.

Crypto giveaway scam

A fake 'send crypto, get more back' promotion that impersonates celebrities or brands to steal your coins.

Deepfake / AI voice cloning

Fraud that uses AI-generated audio or video to imitate a real person's voice or face and trick you into acting.

Fake-check / overpayment scam

A scam that pays you with a fake or excess check, then asks you to send part of it back before it bounces.

Gift-card scam

A scam that pressures you to buy gift cards and share the codes as a form of untraceable, unrecoverable payment.

Imposter scam

A scam where the fraudster pretends to be someone you trust, a bank, agency, company, or loved one.

Look-alike domain

A web address that copies a real one with a tiny change, like paypa1.com, built to fool you.

Money mule

A person who moves stolen or scam money for others, often unknowingly, hiding its criminal source.

One-time code (OTP)

The short code an app texts you to log in. Anyone asking you to share it is trying to get into your account.

Phishing

A message pretending to be someone you trust that tries to steal your login, money, or personal details.

Pig butchering

A long-con romance-and-investment scam that builds trust before luring victims into fake crypto trading.

Ponzi scheme

An investment fraud that pays existing investors with new investors' money while pretending to generate real returns.

Pyramid scheme

A recruitment-driven money scheme where earnings come from signing up new members, not from real product sales.

Quishing (QR-code phishing)

Phishing that hides a malicious link inside a QR code so you scan straight to a fake site.

Recovery scam

A second scam that targets prior victims, promising to recover lost money for an upfront fee.

Romance scam

A fake online romantic relationship built to win trust and then ask for money or favors.

Sextortion

A threat to share intimate or embarrassing images unless you pay or comply, often based on bluff.

SIM swapping

Hijacking your phone number by moving it to a scammer's SIM, letting them intercept your codes.

Smishing (SMS phishing)

Phishing delivered by text message, a fake alert or link sent to your phone to steal data or money.

Social engineering

Manipulating people through trust, fear, or urgency to get them to hand over information or money.

Spear phishing

A targeted phishing attack aimed at a specific person, using personal details to seem convincing.

Spoofing

Faking the sender of a message or call so it appears to come from a trusted person or company.

Tech-support scam

A fake alert or call claiming your device is infected, pressuring you to grant remote access or pay for phony repairs.

Typosquatting

Registering misspelled or lookalike web addresses to catch people who mistype or misread a real one.

Verification-code scam

A trick to get you to read out a one-time passcode so the scammer can take over your account.

Vishing (voice phishing)

Phishing over a phone call, where a scammer poses as your bank, a company, or an official to extract info.