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An overpayment scam, also known as a refund scam, is a type of confidence trick designed to prey upon victims' good faith. In the most basic form, an overpayment scam consists of a scammer claiming, falsely, to have sent a victim an excess amount of money.
A sucker list is a list of people who have previously fallen for a scam such as a telemarketing fraud, lottery scam, high-yield investment program, get-rich-quick scheme, or work-at-home schemes, or, as used by charities, someone who made a donation. The lists are usually sold to scammers or charities. [1] [2] [3]
Scams and confidence tricks are difficult to classify, because they change often and often contain elements of more than one type. Throughout this list, the perpetrator of the confidence trick is called the "con artist" or simply "artist", and the intended victim is the "mark".
The following is an alphabetical list of notable people known to have committed fraud. A Frank Abagnale Jr. , American impostor who wrote bad checks in 12 countries until arrested in 1969: falsely represented himself as a qualified member of professions such as airline pilot, doctor, attorney, and teacher; the film Catch Me If You Can is based ...
Gregor MacGregor (1786–1845): Scottish con man who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of "Poyais". [2]Jeanne of Valois-Saint-Rémy (1756–1791): Chief conspirator in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which further tarnished the French royal family's already-poor reputation and, along with other causes, eventually led to the French Revolution.
In law, fraud is an intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law or criminal law, or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. [1]
It is common for scammers to target people who have bad credit and are therefore more susceptible to take the offer in hopes to pay off debts or to increase their credit rating. [9] Overpayment fraud – One of the most popular scams making the rounds. A generous overpayment is made to the victim typically using a fake cheque.
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity , naivety , compassion , vanity , confidence , irresponsibility , and greed .