Account Takeover (ATO)
also: ATO, account hijacking
When a criminal gains unauthorized access to a victim's bank, brokerage, or email account and uses it to move funds or data.
18 U.S.C. § 1028A, § 1343Related fraud type →
Legal Hub
How fraud works, and how the law answers it.
A field guide to the schemes, the statutes that punish them, and the language investigators use. Built for victims, journalists, and the curious.
This is not legal advice. FoundFraud is an educational platform. All information is derived from public statutes, sentencing guidelines, and prosecuted cases. If you believe you may be involved in any of these activities — as victim, witness, or otherwise — contact the proper authorities using the Reporting Compass.
01 — Types of fraud
Four starting points. Fifteen in the full index.
Identity & Access
Synthetic Identity Fraud
The deliberate creation of fake or 'composite' identities — usually by combining a real person's Social Security number with a fabricated name, date of birth, and supporting documents — to open credit accounts, obtain loans, or access government benefits.
Money & Banking
Money Laundering & Money Mules
Helping criminals make 'dirty' money appear legitimate by moving it through accounts, businesses, or assets. This includes acting as a money mule, opening accounts for others, titling vehicles or property in your name, and structuring transactions to avoid detection.
Money & Banking
Wire Fraud & Business Email Compromise
Using the banking system, wire transfers, email, or mail to defraud victims or financial institutions. It includes business email compromise (BEC), romance scams that end in wires, check fraud, and account takeovers.
People & Trust
Elder Fraud
Fraud that targets older adults — by phone, mail, pop-ups, or a trusted 'helper' — exploiting loneliness, courtesy, and unfamiliarity with technology. It ranges from grandparent scams to tech-support and romance cons.
02 — The cost of fraud
$0B
Fraud losses reported to the FTC
FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 · 2024
0.0K
Complaints filed with the FBI IC3
IC3 · 2024
Reported fraud losses have climbed steeply. The figures below are drawn from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center annual reports.
$4.2B2020
$6.9B2021
$10.3B2022
$12.5B2023
$16.6B2024
03 — Key terms
The vocabulary of an investigation.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
also: BEC, CEO fraud, email account compromise
A scheme in which attackers impersonate an executive, vendor, or colleague over email to trick an employee into wiring funds or disclosing data.
18 U.S.C. § 1343, § 1349Related fraud type →
Money Mule
also: money transfer agent, smurfer
A person who transfers illegally obtained money for others, often recruited under the guise of a job, and who may be criminally liable even if unaware.
18 U.S.C. § 1956, § 1957Related fraud type →
Pig Butchering (Sha Zhu Pan)
also: Sha Zhu Pan, romance investment scam
A long-term confidence scam pairing a romance or friendship with a fake crypto platform, grooming the victim before extracting larger deposits.
Structuring / Smurfing
also: smurfing
Deliberately breaking up transactions to stay below reporting thresholds — a federal crime even when the funds are legal.
31 U.S.C. § 5324Related fraud type →
Synthetic Identity
also: credit jacking, Frankenstein ID
A fabricated identity assembled from real and fake data that can pass identity checks and build credit.
18 U.S.C. § 1028ARelated fraud type →
04 — Our standards
An Open Letter to Those Who See Fraud
Fraud is not a victimless crime. It erodes trust in our financial system, destroys families, raises costs for everyone, and often funds even worse criminal activity.
We built FoundFraud because we believe the most powerful thing an honest person can do is recognize the patterns and report what they see — the right way, through official channels, with facts.
If you are reading this because something feels wrong in your life or in someone else's — whether you were pulled in, saw something from the outside, or are simply trying to understand — we respect you for looking.
The right thing is almost always to report it. Not for revenge. Not for drama. But because these crimes only survive in darkness and silence.
See something. Say something. Do it properly through the official channels listed on this site.
We are not here to sensationalize. We are here to make the patterns visible so fewer people get hurt. That is the entire point.
— The FoundFraud Project
05 — Terms & privacy
Terms of Use
This platform exists for education and awareness only. Read the full Terms of Use.
Privacy
We collect the minimum data necessary, and no analytics. See the Privacy Policy. For our editorial ground rules, read the Disclaimers.