| account takeover | A follow-on crime to identity theft. In this scenario, the possessor of your identity changes where your bill is being mailed to and quickly runs up charges before you are aware of the problem.
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| affinity fraud | These include many different types of frauds perpetrated upon groups such as church members who know and trust each other, and have an affinity for one another. Often, a person of high status in the group, such as its pastor, president, or a member of the governing board will be recruited and will unknowingly help further the scheme by endorsing it.
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| black market peso exchange (BMPE) | A sophisticated method of money laundering which is typically operated to convert drug or other illicitly gained money into funds which appear to be from legitimate sources.
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| check kiters | People who open accounts at several banks and then knowingly write a bad check on their account at bank 1 and then cover it with a bad check written on their account at bank 2 and so on. Eventually the scheme falls apart because the sums keep getting larger and larger and cannot be maintained indefinitely.
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| cramming | The intentional process of placing unauthorized, misleading, inaccurate or deceptive charges on the victims' telephone bills. While telephone companies may legally place such charges on your bill on behalf of other companies, it is also a method by which scams can also be run by those other companies.
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| dumpster diving | Going through people's trash for the purpose of finding sufficient sensitive information to commit identity theft.
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| embezzlement | The misappropriation or misapplication of money or property entrusted to one's care, custody, or control.
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| identity theft | The assumption of another person's identity for use in fraudulent transactions that result in a loss to the victim; accomplished by acquiring personal information about the victim (e.g., date of birth, address, credit card numbers).
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