Affiliate fraud is false or unscrupulous activity conducted to generate commissions from an affiliate marketing program. 

Affiliate fraud refers to any false or unscrupulous activity conducted to generate commissions from an affiliate marketing program. Fraud remains a problem, however, and newer types of affiliate fraud include:
Using stolen data for lead generation or stolen credit cards to generate sales.
Typosquatting, or URL hijacking domains that are near those of the company’s name or products to pick up a referral from the redirect.
Getting people to download adware or spyware that inserts affiliate code automatically.
Cloning other affiliate site’s content to steal away traffic.
Buying Google AdWords on the search terms where a company or its products are already ranked. Establishing clear terms and conditions prohibiting most of the common fraud methods can prevent affiliate fraud if transactions are monitored for suspicious patterns and the terms and conditions are enforced. Affiliate fraud also encompasses any activities that are explicitly forbidden under the terms and conditions of an affiliate marketing program. Affiliate fraud refers to any false or unscrupulous activity conducted to generate commissions from an affiliate marketing program.

Affiliate Fraud

An altered check is a check or another negotiable instrument that has been materially and maliciously altered to effect a fraud. 

An altered check is a check or another negotiable instrument that has been materially and maliciously altered to effect a fraud. Under the UCC, the liability for an altered check can reside with the various parties involved, including the customer drawing the check, the bank on which the check is drawn, and the bank that presents the check, depending on the evident negligence. An altered check is one of four common types of check fraud, the other three being forgeries (imitated signature), counterfeit checks (fake), and remote checks (instead of a signature, there is a bogus statement that the account holder has authorized a check). An altered check is a form of check fraud that includes an altered check in the form of malicious changes. An altered check is a check or another negotiable instrument that has been materially and maliciously altered to effect a fraud.

Altered Check

Appraisal fraud is a form of mortgage fraud, whereby the value of a home is deliberately appraised above its market value. 

Appraisal fraud is a form of mortgage fraud, whereby the value of a home is deliberately appraised at an inflated amount, well above its fair market value (FMV). The overstated value obtained through appraisal fraud is commonly used to:
Help a seller get a better price than the market would otherwise warrant;
Help a buyer get financing because the mortgage amount could be much less than the appraised value of the home; and
Help a homeowner get a preferable refinance, or home equity loan. An appraisal is meant to be an assessment of a home to determine its fair market value (FMV).
Appraisal fraud is generally used to either get the seller a better market price or help a buyer get financing or preferable refinancing. Appraisal fraud is a form of mortgage fraud, whereby the value of a home is deliberately appraised at an inflated amount, well above its fair market value (FMV). Appraisal fraud is one of the most common types of mortgage fraud and happens when an appraiser, or a buyer or seller, artificially inflates (or deflates) the value of a property so that it diverges significantly from its FMV.

Appraisal Fraud

Credit fraud alerts give notice to the credit reporting bureaus that a consumer’s identity may have been stolen or their information is at risk.

A credit fraud alert is a notice sent to a credit reporting bureau that a consumer’s identity may have been stolen, and a request for new credit in that consumer’s name may not be legitimate. A credit fraud alert is a notice sent to a credit reporting bureau that a consumer’s identity may have been stolen, and a request for new credit in that consumer’s name may not be legitimate. While the credit fraud alert is in effect, if anyone, including you, attempts to apply for credit in your name, the financial institution receiving the credit request is expected to take additional steps to verify the applicant’s identity. When you set up a credit fraud alert, you are entitled to free credit reports from each major credit bureau. A credit fraud alert can protect you and your credit from someone opening fraudulent credit accounts under your name.

Credit Fraud Alert

A credit monitoring service is a system that monitors a consumer’s credit reports for signs of possible fraud.

A credit monitoring service tracks changes in borrower behavior to notify consumers of potential fraud, as well as changes to their creditworthiness. Although consumers primarily use credit monitoring services to guard against identity theft, a credit monitoring service also tracks a consumer’s credit report and credit scores. Some financial institutions offer free services that track credit scores on a limited basis, while other paid services offer more comprehensive scans that collect data across the internet on a consumer’s bank account, credit card, or Social Security number. Some credit monitoring services also offer more comprehensive tracking of credit scores, which keeps consumers up to date on the quality of their credit. If a credit card is stolen and used, a credit monitoring service should detect the different buying patterns and alert the credit card account holder.

Credit Monitoring Service

The term fake claims refers to insurance claims that are made fraudulently. 

The term "fake claims" refers to insurance claims that are made fraudulently. shortly before submitting a claim
A fire-damage claim for a home or auto where the fire started immediately after a family argument, or shortly after family members left the home/car
Medical claims submitted by a temporary employee, whose job is ending
In order to more easily identify instances of fake claims, many insurers employ Special Investigation Units, or SIUs, which consist of employees, who have backgrounds as detectives, police officers, and in other similar professions. Insurance companies keep in-depth records on claims and do all sorts of analyses to sniff out fake claims–everything from figuring out who is most likely to file a claim to when and where. Fake claims are often exaggerations of valid claims to an insurance policy, which results in a larger claim settlement. In order to more easily identify instances of fake claims, many insurers also employ Special Investigation Units with employees who have backgrounds as detectives, police officers, and in other similar professions.

Fake Claims

A forensic audit is an examination of a firm's or individual's finances to derive evidence that can be used in a court of law or legal proceeding.

A forensic audit examines and evaluates a firm's or individual's financial records to derive evidence used in a court of law or legal proceeding. During the planning stage, the forensic auditor and team will plan their investigation to achieve objectives, such as
Identifying what fraud, if any, is being carried out
Determining the period during which the fraud occurred
Discovering how the fraud was concealed
Naming the perpetrators of the fraud
Quantifying the loss suffered as a result of the fraud
Gathering relevant evidence that is admissible in court
Suggesting measures to prevent such frauds from occurring in the future
The evidence collected should be adequate to prove the fraudster's identity (s) in court, reveal the fraud scheme's details, and document the financial loss suffered and the parties affected by the fraud.
A logical flow of evidence will help the court in understanding the fraud and the evidence presented. At a minimum, the report should include
The findings of the investigation
A summary of the evidence collected
An explanation of how the fraud was perpetrated
Suggestions for preventing similar frauds in the future—such as improving internal controls
The forensic auditor must be present during court proceedings to explain the evidence collected and how the team identified the suspect(s). The process of a forensic audit is similar to a regular financial audit—planning, collecting evidence, writing a report—with the additional step of a potential court appearance. A forensic audit examines and evaluates a firm's or individual's financial records to derive evidence used in a court of law or legal proceeding.

Forensic Audit

Insurance fraud is the execution of illicit schemes to falsely reap the monetary benefits of an insurance policy.

Insurance fraud is an illegal act on the part of either the buyer or seller of an insurance contract. 3.  **Asset diversion**: The theft of insurance company assets, such as, for example, using borrowed funds to buy an insurance company and then using the acquired company's assets to pay off the debt. Insurance fraud with automobiles, for instance, may include disposing of a vehicle and then claiming it was stolen in order to receive a settlement payment or a replacement vehicle. If the vehicle owner lives in an area with high rate premiums because of recurring car theft in the neighborhood or other reasons, the owner might try to register the vehicle in a different area to lower their premiums. Buyer fraud, meanwhile, can consist of exaggerated claims, falsified medical history, post-dated policies, viatical fraud, faked death or kidnapping, and murder.

Insurance Fraud

Jitter is an anti-skimming technique that distorts the readout of the magnetic strip as it is swiped or pulled into a card reader or ATM.

Jitter is an anti-skimming technique that distorts the readout of the magnetic strip by altering the speed or motion of the card as it is swiped or pulled into a card reader or ATM. Jitter technology is one reason that a credit card may fail to read when swiped, as the technology can cause problems with both legitimate card readers as well as card skimmers. But jitter is only effective on ATMs with motorized card readers – readers that pull the card in, read the mag-stripe data and then push the card out. It is most likely to be found in ATMs and other machines that “draw-in” a credit or debit card for scanning, and is less likely to be a feature of machines that allow an individual to swipe his or her own card. Jitter technology is designed to make it more difficult for illegal card readers to copy credit and debit card numbers.

Jitter

Medicare and Medicaid fraud include unethical and illegal practices aimed at getting payouts from government-funded healthcare programs.

Medicare and Medicaid fraud refer to illegal practices aimed at getting unfairly high payouts from government-funded healthcare programs. The CARES Act also:
Increases flexibility for Medicare to cover telehealth services.
Authorizes Medicare certification for home health services by physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse specialists.
Increases Medicare payments for COVID-19-related hospital stays and durable medical equipment.
For Medicaid, the CARES Act clarifies that non-expansion states can use the Medicaid program to cover COVID-19-related services for uninsured adults who would have qualified for Medicaid if the state had chosen to expand. 2:07
Medicare and Medicaid fraud can be committed by medical professionals, healthcare facilities, patients or program participants, and outside parties who may pretend to be one of these parties. These entities that provide investigation and oversight related to potential fraud include the Medicaid Fraud Control Units, or MFCUs, which operate in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.﻿﻿ Medicare and Medicaid fraud can be committed by medical professionals, healthcare facilities, patients, and others who pretend to be one of these parties.

Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Online shoplifting is a type of theft involving dishonest chargebacks and piracy targeting online or ecommerce merchants.

Online shoplifting is the theft of goods from an Internet-based merchant. A consumer purchases goods online using a credit card, receives the goods, then submits a statement to the credit card company claiming that they never received the goods. The online merchant then experiences secondary damage from online shoplifting because it can no longer accept a certain brand of credit card. One way to conduct online shoplifting is through the credit card chargeback process. As a result, the credit card company initiates a chargeback and forces the merchant to refund the customer’s purchase.

Online Shoplifting

An opt out right is a consumer-protection measure allowing customers to exclude themselves from information sharing practices among financial firms.

How to Comply with the Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

VIII. Privacy — Fair Credit Reporting Act

16 CFR Part 313: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information Rule under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Regulation S-AM: Limitations on Affiliate Marketing A Small Entity Compliance Guide

An opt out right generally describes a party’s ability to exclude themselves from specific elements of or changes to a legal agreement. Rules governing opt out rights typically require that card issuers provide customers with adequate disclosures describing their information-sharing practices and offer customers the opportunity to prohibit institutions from using their information in this fashion. For example, U.S. federal law requires various financial entities, including credit card companies, brokers and dealers, to allow customers to opt out of any policy that involves sharing non-public customer information with third parties. The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) expanded the types of financial services companies required to provide opt out rights to consumers and further limited the types of information those entities could share with unaffiliated third parties. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003 amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to include an opt out right for consumers targeted to receive marketing material based upon eligibility information provided by a firm’s affiliate.

Opt Out Right

Phishing is a method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a fraudulent website, email, or text appearing to represent a legitimate firm.

How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams

Phishing is a method of identity theft that relies on individuals unwittingly volunteering personal details or information that can be then be used for nefarious purposes. For example, phishing attempts may:
Say they've noticed suspicious activity or log-in attempts on your account
Claim there's a problem with your account or payment information
Say you need to confirm or update personal information
Include a fake invoice
Ask you to click on a link to make a payment
Claim you're eligible to sign up for a government refund
Offer a coupon for free goods or services Then, that thief sends out many emails that claim to be from the major bank and request the email recipients to input their personal banking information (such as their PIN) into the website so the bank may update their records. When in doubt, hover over the email address of the sender to ensure the email address matches the email address you expect. A phishing attempt may utilize an official-looking website, email, or other forms of communication to trick users into handing over details like credit card numbers, social security numbers, or passwords.

Phishing

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors.

Press Release: SEC Charges Bernard L. Madoff for Multi-Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors. Similar to a pyramid scheme, the Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors, who are promised a large profit at little to no risk. Regardless of the technology used in the Ponzi scheme, most share similar characteristics:
1.  A guaranteed promise of high returns with little risk
2.  A consistent flow of returns regardless of market conditions
3.  Investments that have not been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
4.  Investment strategies that are secret or described as too complex to explain A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for earlier investors with money taken from later investors. Ponzi schemes rely on a constant flow of new investments to continue to provide returns to older investors.

Ponzi Scheme  (Fraudulent Investing Scam)

Spoofing is a scam in which criminals attempt to obtain personal information by pretending to be a legitimate business or other innocent party.

Spoofing is a type of scam in which criminals attempt to obtain someone's personal information by pretending to be a legitimate business, a neighbor, or some other innocent party. There are several kinds of spoofing, including email spoofing, text message spoofing, caller ID spoofing, and URL and GPS spoofing. Spoofing to trick you into divulging personal information can be done through email, text messages, caller ID, even GPS receivers. Spoofing is a type of scam in which criminals attempt to obtain someone's personal information by pretending to be a legitimate business, a neighbor, or some other innocent party. Hang up (or log off) and then look up the phone number or customer service email address from the entity purportedly contacting you for your personal information.

Spoofing

A transaction authentication number is a one-time code used to validate online transactions.

A transaction authentication number is a one-time code used in the processing of online transactions. A transaction authorization number (TAN) represents an additional layer of security beyond a password to securely log into an account or conduct a transaction. It is advised, for instance, that email users sign in to their email accounts using two-factor authentication, whereby one must put one’s password in along with a transaction authentication number. Organizations such as the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council create standards that payment card acquirers and processing companies are expected to follow in order to encrypt card information at the point-of-interaction (POI) and later decrypt and process the transaction. The first level of authentication may include a personal identification number (PIN) or password to access an account, while the second level of authentication may be the TAN.

Transaction Authentication Number (TAN)

Truncation is a requirement mandated by the FTC for merchants to shorten the credit or debit card information printed on certain receipts. 

FTC's 2020 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book

Truncation is the requirement mandated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for merchants to shorten the personal account information printed on credit and debit card receipts. Truncation is the requirement mandated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for merchants to shorten the personal account information printed on credit and debit card receipts. Generally speaking, merchants retain a separate copy of all receipts that contain the customer's full credit card information. Truncation is the practice of shortening the credit and debit card information printed on receipts. This requirement, which came into effect on Dec. 1, 2006, is designed to help protect customers from credit card fraud and identity theft.

Truncation

The acronym UDAAP refers to unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by those who offer financial products or services to consumers.

UDAAP is an acronym referring to unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by those who offer financial products or services to consumers. Financial product and service providers are not allowed to coerce or deceive consumers into making unwanted purchases, nor are they allowed to mislead consumers through specific statements or through a lack of clear and full disclosure.
The following are examples of unfair or deceptive practices:
A lender keeping a lien on a house that a consumer has fully paid for
A credit card company issuing convenience checks to consumers, then refusing to honor the checks without notifying those consumers
A bank maintaining a relationship with a customer who has repeatedly committed fraud
A car dealership advertising $0 down payment car leases without clearly disclosing the associated fees
A mortgage lender advertising fixed-rate mortgages but only selling adjustable-rate mortgages
Regulators routinely evaluate financial products and services for potential sources of consumer harm. The government does not determine which financial products and services are best for consumers, but it does require that consumers have access to information that lets them choose the best options for their situations. UDAAP is an acronym referring to unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by those who offer financial products or services to consumers. The acronym UDAAP refers to unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by those who offer financial products or services to consumers.

UDAAP

The term “unauthorized insurer” refers to a fraudulent business that is posing as a legitimate insurance company.

The term “unauthorized insurer” refers to a fraudulent business that is posing as a legitimate insurance company. To protect against these risks, it is wise for both individual customers and insurance professionals to check with their state insurance regulator before deciding whether to do business with a new insurance issuer that they are not already familiar with. To her surprise, Emma is told by the regulator that there is no record of her insurance company, and that she was therefore unwittingly sold insurance by an unauthorized insurer. An unauthorized insurer is an insurance company that is operating without the permission or oversight of its state insurance regulator. As the name suggests, unauthorized issuers are not registered with their state’s insurance regulator, and as such are not permitted to legally sell insurance products.

Financial Fraud

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Terms in Financial Fraud