Fraud Indicators in Procurement and Other Defense Activities Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Defined Matrix of Professional Guidance |
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Fraud Schemes and Related Terms A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Account Takeover: A form of identity theft whereby the fraudster obtains full control over a consumer’s existing account such as obtaining the PIN or changing the statement mailing address. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Account Detection Rate: The percentage of fraud cases uses or accounts that are detected. Since a fraud case may have more than one fraudulent transaction, this number is generally higher than the transaction detection rate. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Advance Fee Scams: An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value, such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift, and then receives little or nothing in return. The variety of advance fee schemes is limited only by the imagination of the con artists who offer them. They may involve the sale of products or services, the offering of investments, lottery winnings, “found money,” or many other “opportunities.” Clever con artists will offer to find financing arrangements for their clients who pay a “finder’s fee” in advance. They require their clients to sign contracts in which they agree to pay the fee when they are introduced to the financing source. Victims often learn that they are ineligible for financing only after they have paid the “finder” according to the contract. Such agreements may be legal unless it can be shown that the “finder” never had the intention or the ability to provide financing for the victims. (Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation) Advances Fraud: Pre-meditated credit abuse. This type of fraud can be carried out by the true consumer or as a result of identity fraud. Typically occurs across multiple accounts simultaneously such as unsecured loans or credit cards opened after a Demand Deposit Account has been established and used for a period of time. Term is generally used in the UK. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Agent Fraud: Occurs when a new credit card application is submitted with fraudulent details. The fraud may be the true consumer misrepresenting details or identity fraud. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Application Fraud: Occurs when a new credit application is submitted with fraudulent details. The fraud may be the true consumer misrepresenting details or identity fraud. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) ATM Fraud: Encompassing term used to describe fraud related to ATM card accounts where a card is used to immediately withdraw funds from a consumer’s account using a PIN-based transaction at an ATM. (Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department) Auction Fraud: Auction fraud involves fraud attributable to the misrepresentation of a product advertised for sale through an Internet auction site or the non-delivery of products purchased through an Internet auction site. (Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center, “Internet Crime Schemes” Auction Fraud – Romania: Auction fraud is the most prevalent of Internet crimes associated with Romania. The subjects have saturated the Internet auctions and offer almost every in-demand product. The subjects have also become more flexible, allowing victims to send half the funds now, and the other half when the item arrives. The auctions are often posted as if the seller is a U.S. citizen, then the subject advises the victim to send the money to a business partner, sick relative, a family member, etc., usually in a European country. The money is usually transferred via MoneyGram or Western Union wire transfer. In order to receive funds via Western Union, the receiver must provide the complete information of the sender and the receiver’s full name and address. The funds can be picked up anywhere in the world using this information. There is no need to provide the money transfer control number or the answer to any secret question, as many subjects have purported to the victims. Money sent via wire transfer leaves little recourse for the victim. The most recent trend is a large increase in bank-to-bank wire transfers. Most significantly, these wire transfers go through large U.S. banks and are then routed to Bucharest, Romania or Riga, Latvia. Similarly, the sellers also occasionally direct the victims to pay using phony escrow services. Sometimes actual escrow websites are compromised and other sites resembling them are created by the subjects. Once the funds are wire transferred to the escrow website, the seller discontinues contact. (Source: Internet Crime Complaint Center, “Internet Crime Schemes”) |