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Updated · GACS — Global Anti-Crime & Safety

Cite this glossary as gacs.app/glossary. Cross-referenced from our Investment Scams, Wrong-Number Scams, Pig-butchering playbook and Crypto Risk Certifications hubs.

Scam, Fraud, Crypto & Course Glossary

210 terms across scams, fraud, crypto, cybersecurity, investigations, courses and finance. Filter by category or letter, or search by keyword.

  • An accounting method where revenue and expenses are recorded when they are earned or incurred, regardless of when the cash is received or paid.
  • The process of gradually repaying a loan through regular installment payments, which include both principal and interest.
  • The total cost of borrowing, including both interest and fees, expressed as a percentage over a year.
  • Arbitrage
    Finance
    The practice of exploiting price differences of the same asset in different markets to make a profit with minimal risk.
  • Assets
    Finance
    Anything of value owned by an individual, corporation, or country that can be converted into cash.
  • A financial market characterized by falling asset prices and a generally pessimistic outlook among investors.
  • Stocks of large, well-established, and financially sound companies with a history of stable performance.
  • Bond
    Finance
    A debt security that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically a government or corporation) with a promise of repayment with interest.
  • Broker
    Finance
    A financial intermediary who facilitates the buying and selling of financial instruments on behalf of clients.
  • A financial market characterized by rising asset prices and a generally optimistic outlook among investors.
  • Profits generated from the sale of an investment, such as stocks, real estate, or other assets.
  • Cash Flow
    Finance
    The net amount of cash and cash equivalents moving into and out of a business, indicating its liquidity and financial health.
  • Interest calculated on the initial principal and also on the accumulated interest from previous periods, leading to exponential growth over time.
  • A numerical representation of an individual’s creditworthiness, based on their credit history and financial behavior.
  • A digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and operates on decentralized networks, such as blockchain.
  • A financial metric that compares a company’s total debt to its total equity, providing insights into its financial leverage.
  • The reduction in the value of an asset over time, typically due to wear and tear or obsolescence.
  • Derivative
    Finance
    A financial contract whose value is derived from the performance of an underlying asset, index, or rate.
  • The strategy of spreading investments across different assets or asset classes to reduce risk and enhance potential returns.
  • Dividend
    Finance
    A distribution of a portion of a company’s earnings to its shareholders, usually in the form of cash or additional shares.
  • A financial metric that represents the portion of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock.
  • A stock option granted to employees as part of their compensation package, allowing them to purchase shares of the company’s stock at a predetermined price.
  • Equity
    Finance
    The ownership interest in a company, represented by shares of stock, indicating the residual interest after deducting liabilities.
  • An investment fund traded on stock exchanges, comprising a diversified portfolio of assets, and designed to track the performance of a specific index.
  • The percentage of a mutual fund’s total assets that is deducted annually to cover management fees and other operational expenses.
  • A professional who helps individuals and businesses create comprehensive financial plans, including budgeting, investments, and retirement planning.
  • Investments that pay a fixed amount of interest or dividends, such as bonds, providing a predictable income stream.
  • The global marketplace for trading national currencies against one another, facilitating international trade and investment.
  • A method of evaluating a security’s intrinsic value by examining economic, financial, and other qualitative and quantitative factors.
  • Futures
    Finance
    Financial contracts obligating the buyer to purchase, or the seller to sell, a specific asset at a predetermined future date and price.
  • The process by which a private company becomes publicly traded by offering its shares to the general public through an initial public offering (IPO).
  • An order to buy or sell a security at a specified price that remains in effect until the order is executed or canceled by the investor.
  • Greenback
    Finance
    Informal term for the U.S. dollar, often used in the context of foreign exchange markets.
  • The total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders over a specific time period, serving as a key economic indicator.
  • A low-risk, interest-bearing investment offered by financial institutions with a fixed term and guaranteed principal repayment.
  • Hedge Fund
    Finance
    An investment fund that pools capital from accredited individuals or institutional investors and employs various strategies to earn high returns or mitigate risk.
  • A type of algorithmic trading characterized by the use of high-speed and sophisticated computer programs to execute numerous orders in fractions of a second.
  • The duration an investor owns a security or asset before selling it, influencing capital gains tax treatment.
  • A survey-based economic indicator that gauges the sentiment of homebuilders regarding current and future conditions in the housing market.
  • An extremely high and typically accelerating inflation, leading to a sharp and rapid decrease in the purchasing power of a currency.
  • Index Fund
    Finance
    A type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to replicate the performance of a specific market index.
  • Inflation
    Finance
    The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, leading to a decrease in purchasing power.
  • The first sale of a company’s stock to the public, transforming it from a private to a publicly-traded entity.
  • The cost of borrowing money, usually expressed as a percentage, and the return earned on an investment.
  • The length of time an investor plans to hold an investment before selling it, often categorized as short-term, medium-term, or long-term.
  • In economics, a graphical representation of the initial decrease and subsequent increase in the trade balance following a currency devaluation.
  • Weekly reports that track the number of individuals filing for unemployment benefits, providing insights into the labor market’s health.
  • A financial account owned by two or more individuals, allowing them equal access and control over the assets in the account.
  • Common stock or other equity instruments that rank lower in priority compared to senior equity in terms of claims on assets and dividends.
  • Junk Bond
    Finance
    A high-yield, high-risk bond issued by companies with lower credit ratings, offering higher returns to compensate for the increased risk.
  • An economic theory that advocates for active government intervention in the economy to stabilize and promote economic growth.
  • A unit of electrical energy equivalent to one kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power used for one hour.
  • Regulatory requirements and processes that financial institutions must follow to verify and identify their customers to prevent fraud and money laundering.
  • A scenario where different sectors or segments of the economy recover from a downturn at different rates, creating diverging paths.
  • Kurtosis
    Finance
    A statistical measure that describes the distribution of data points in a dataset, indicating the tails’ thickness or thinness compared to a normal distribution.
  • Leverage
    Finance
    The use of borrowed capital to increase the size of a position or investment, amplifying both potential gains and losses.
  • The benchmark interest rate at which major global banks lend to one another in the interbank market, influencing various financial products’ interest rates.
  • An order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better, only executed if the market reaches the designated price.
  • Liquidity
    Finance
    The ease with which an asset or security can be bought or sold in the market without affecting its price.
  • A position where an investor holds an asset with the expectation that its price will rise, allowing for a profitable sale in the future.
  • A demand by a broker or lender for additional funds to cover potential losses in a margin account due to adverse price movements.
  • The total value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock, calculated by multiplying the current stock price by the total number of shares.
  • An order to buy or sell a security immediately at the best available current market price.
  • The actions taken by a central bank to control the money supply, interest rates, and inflation, influencing economic growth and stability.
  • An investment vehicle that pools money from multiple investors to invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, or other securities.
  • NASDAQ
    Finance
    A global electronic marketplace for buying and selling securities, known for its high-tech and technology-focused listings.
  • The total amount of money that a government owes to external creditors and its own citizens, often expressed as a percentage of the country’s GDP.
  • The per-share value of a mutual fund, calculated by dividing the total value of all assets minus liabilities by the number of outstanding shares.
  • The stated interest rate on a loan or investment without adjusting for inflation.
  • A unique digital asset, often based on blockchain technology, representing ownership or proof of authenticity for a specific item or piece of content.
  • A mutual fund that continuously issues and redeems shares based on investor demand, with no restrictions on the number of shares it can issue.
  • Options
    Finance
    Financial derivatives that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specified time.
  • Outperform
    Finance
    A term used to describe an investment that performs better than a particular benchmark, index, or other investments in its category.
  • Overbought
    Finance
    A situation where the price of an asset has risen sharply and quickly, potentially indicating that it is overvalued and due for a correction.
  • A decentralized market where financial instruments are traded directly between two parties without a centralized exchange or broker.
  • Pip
    Finance
    In foreign exchange (Forex) trading, a pip is the smallest price move that a given exchange rate can make based on market convention.
  • Portfolio
    Finance
    A collection of investments, such as stocks, bonds, and other assets, held by an individual, institution, or mutual fund.
  • A valuation ratio calculated by dividing a company’s current stock price by its earnings per share (EPS), providing insights into its relative value.
  • Equity securities in companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange, often involving investments in private companies.
  • A company whose shares are traded on a public stock exchange, allowing the general public to buy and sell its shares.
  • A type of dividend that qualifies for a lower tax rate, typically lower than the ordinary income tax rate.
  • An assessment of the legitimacy and sustainability of a company’s earnings, considering the transparency and reliability of its financial statements.
  • A monetary policy strategy used by central banks to increase the money supply by purchasing financial assets, typically government bonds, to stimulate economic activity.
  • A liquidity ratio that measures a company’s ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets, excluding inventory.
  • Quote
    Finance
    The current or most recent price at which a security is bought or sold in the market.
  • The gain or loss made on an investment relative to the amount invested, expressed as a percentage.
  • Recession
    Finance
    A significant decline in economic activity across the economy, typically lasting for a prolonged period, often marked by a decline in GDP, employment, and consumer spending.
  • A financial metric that measures the profitability of an investment, calculated as the gain or loss relative to the initial investment cost.
  • The process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate or avoid them.
  • Rollover
    Finance
    The process of reinvesting funds from a mature security or investment into a new one, often used in retirement accounts.
  • A U.S. government agency responsible for regulating securities markets and protecting investors.
  • The practice of selling borrowed securities with the expectation that their price will decline, allowing the seller to buy them back at a lower price to make a profit.
  • S&P 500
    Finance
    A market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the U.S., widely used as a benchmark for the overall stock market.
  • A corporate action that increases the number of a company’s outstanding shares while proportionally decreasing the share price, often to make the stock more affordable.
  • The fundamental economic principle that describes the relationship between the availability of a product or service (supply) and the desire for it (demand), influencing prices.
  • A mutual fund designed to automatically adjust its asset allocation over time to become more conservative as the target date (usually retirement) approaches.
  • A strategy used by investors to sell securities at a loss to offset capital gains and reduce their overall tax liability.
  • A method of evaluating securities by analyzing historical price and volume data to predict future price movements.
  • The overall gain or loss on an investment, including both capital appreciation and income generated through dividends or interest.
  • A long-term debt security issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, paying periodic interest and returning the principal at maturity.
  • A term used to describe an investment that performs worse than a particular benchmark, index, or other investments in its category.
  • The process by which financial institutions assess and assume the risk of providing insurance coverage or issuing securities.
  • Debt that is not backed by collateral, relying on the borrower’s creditworthiness and reputation for repayment.
  • A regulation that restricts short selling to prevent excessive downward pressure on a security’s price, allowing short sales only on an uptick or a zero-plus tick.
  • Stocks of companies in the utilities sector, often characterized by stable dividends and relatively low volatility due to the essential nature of their services.
  • An investment strategy that involves selecting stocks or other securities that are considered undervalued based on fundamental analysis, with the expectation of long-term capital appreciation.
  • An insurance product with an investment component that allows the contract holder to allocate funds among different investment options, with payouts linked to the performance of those investments.
  • Funding provided to early-stage, high-potential, and high-risk startups by venture capitalists in exchange for equity or ownership stakes.
  • Vesting
    Finance
    The process by which an employee gains full ownership of employer-contributed retirement funds or stock options over a specified period.
  • Volatility
    Finance
    A statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given security or market index, indicating the degree of price fluctuation.
  • A measure of changes in wage levels, providing insights into labor market trends and inflationary pressures.
  • Warrant
    Finance
    A financial instrument that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying security at a predetermined price before expiration.
  • A professional service that combines financial planning, investment management, and other financial advisory services to address the complex needs of high-net-worth individuals.
  • A tax deducted at the source, typically from wages or investment income, by the payer before the income is paid to the recipient.
  • The difference between a company’s current assets and current liabilities, reflecting its ability to cover short-term operational expenses.
  • X
    Finance
    As there are limited financial terms starting with ‘X,’ this placeholder represents the challenge of finding terms specific to finance in this category.
  • A currency that circulates outside its country of origin, often used in the context of foreign currencies.
  • A theoretical branch of economics that explores economic interactions and systems between different extraterrestrial civilizations.
  • A financial metric used to calculate the internal rate of return (IRR) for irregular cash flows, taking into account specific dates for each cash flow.
  • X-Shares
    Finance
    A class of mutual fund shares that typically charge a higher expense ratio but may offer lower sales charges or loads.
  • A comparison of a financial metric’s current performance with the same metric from the previous year, used to analyze trends and assess growth.
  • A publication that provides information about the prices and yields of corporate bonds in the over-the-counter market.
  • Yield
    Finance
    The income generated by an investment, typically expressed as a percentage of the investment’s current market price or face value.
  • A graphical representation of the relationship between the interest rates and the maturities of different securities, often used as an economic indicator.
  • The total return anticipated on a bond if held until it matures, considering its current market price, par value, coupon interest rate, and the time to maturity.
  • A debt security that does not make periodic interest payments but is issued at a discount to its face value, providing the return through capital appreciation upon maturity.
  • A situation in which one participant’s gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of other participants, resulting in a net change of zero.
  • A firm that is financially distressed and unable to cover its debt servicing costs but continues to operate with the help of external support, often delaying the inevitable bankruptcy.
  • In negotiation, the range or area where a deal is possible and both parties can find common ground.
  • Z-Score
    Finance
    A statistical measurement that quantifies the distance (in standard deviations) a data point is from the mean of a group of data, often used in financial analysis to assess credit risk.
  • Advance-Fee Fraud
    Scams & Fraud
    Any scam where the victim is asked to pay an upfront fee (tax, legal, processing, courier) to unlock a larger promised sum that never arrives.
  • Affinity Fraud
    Scams & Fraud
    A scam that targets members of an identifiable group — religious, ethnic, professional, or age-based — by exploiting trust within the community.
  • Boiler Room
    Scams & Fraud
    An operation of scripted cold-callers pressuring victims into buying overpriced, worthless, or nonexistent investments.
  • An impersonation scam where attackers spoof or hijack a company email account to redirect an invoice payment or payroll transfer to a fraud-controlled bank account.
  • Cash-Flipping Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A social-media scheme promising to multiply small transfers (e.g. 'send $100, get $1,000 back'); the operator vanishes after the first deposit.
  • Charity Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A fake fundraising appeal — often timed to a disaster or war — using a lookalike name and stolen imagery to divert donations.
  • Any scam that relies on winning the victim's trust before extracting money, credentials, or access.
  • Elder Fraud
    Scams & Fraud
    Financial exploitation targeting people over ~60, including grandparent scams, romance scams, and Medicare/utility impersonation calls.
  • Fake Invoice Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A fraudulent invoice mailed or emailed to a business for services never ordered — often for domain renewals, directory listings, or office supplies.
  • Grandparent Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A phone or voice-cloned call impersonating a grandchild in trouble, demanding an urgent wire or gift-card payment for bail, medical, or legal fees.
  • Impersonation Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    Fraud where the scammer pretends to be a trusted party — bank, government agency, delivery service, or family member — to extract money or credentials.
  • Job Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A fake employment offer used to steal identity documents, collect an 'onboarding fee', or recruit the victim as an unwitting money mule.
  • A notification claiming the victim won a prize they never entered; releasing the prize requires paying a 'tax' or 'processing fee' upfront.
  • Money Mule
    Scams & Fraud
    A person — often recruited via a fake job — who receives fraud proceeds into their bank account and forwards them onward, laundering the funds.
  • A distribution model where income depends primarily on recruiting new distributors rather than selling product. Regulators treat recruitment-heavy MLMs as pyramid schemes.
  • The archetypal advance-fee email in which a supposed foreign official offers a share of a fortune in exchange for help moving funds — named after Nigeria's criminal code section 419.
  • Overpayment Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A buyer 'accidentally' pays too much with a fraudulent check and asks the seller to refund the difference; the original check later bounces.
  • Ponzi Scheme
    Scams & Fraud
    A fraud that pays 'returns' to earlier investors from money contributed by later investors, with no genuine underlying business.
  • Pretexting
    Scams & Fraud
    Building a fabricated scenario ('pretext') to manipulate a target into disclosing information or authorizing an action — the core technique behind most social-engineering attacks.
  • Pyramid Scheme
    Scams & Fraud
    A recruitment-driven scheme where income comes from signing up new members rather than selling a real product or service; mathematically guaranteed to collapse.
  • Recovery Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A second-stage fraud in which victims of a prior scam are contacted by fake 'asset recovery agents', lawyers, or blockchain investigators demanding an upfront retainer.
  • Refund Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A caller claims the victim is owed a refund, then uses remote-access software to 'help process' it while draining bank accounts or manipulating transaction amounts.
  • Romance Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A scammer builds a fake online relationship over weeks or months, then invents an emergency or investment opportunity that requires urgent money transfers.
  • Sextortion
    Scams & Fraud
    Blackmail threatening to release real or fabricated sexual images unless the victim pays — often in cryptocurrency and often targeting minors.
  • Shoulder Surfing
    Scams & Fraud
    Observing a victim entering a PIN, password, or security code in public to steal the credential.
  • Social Engineering
    Scams & Fraud
    Any manipulation technique that exploits human psychology — trust, fear, urgency, authority — rather than a technical exploit, to trick victims into unsafe actions.
  • Tech-Support Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    A pop-up or cold call warning of a fake virus and directing the victim to a 'Microsoft' or 'Apple' technician who charges for imaginary repairs and installs remote-access malware.
  • Wire-Fraud
    Scams & Fraud
    Any fraud scheme that uses interstate or international electronic communications to move money — a common U.S. federal charge in scam prosecutions.
  • Wrong-Number Scam
    Scams & Fraud
    An unsolicited text that looks like a mis-sent message ('Hi Michael, are we still on for dinner?'); replying opens a scripted pig-butchering conversation.
  • Address Poisoning
    Crypto Scams
    A scam where the attacker sends a $0 transaction from an address that mimics the first and last characters of one the victim uses often, hoping the victim copies the fake address from their transaction history.
  • Airdrop Scam
    Crypto Scams
    Unsolicited tokens sent to a wallet that require signing a malicious transaction to 'claim' — usually granting the attacker permission to drain other assets.
  • Approval Drainer
    Crypto Scams
    A malicious dApp that tricks the user into signing an unlimited ERC-20 or ERC-721 approval, then transfers the approved tokens or NFTs out at will.
  • Cloned Exchange
    Crypto Scams
    A pixel-perfect copy of a real crypto exchange or broker (e.g. MetaTrader5 clones) hosted on a look-alike domain; deposits go to the operator's own wallets.
  • Dusting Attack
    Crypto Scams
    Sending tiny (dust) amounts of crypto to many wallets to de-anonymize their owners by tracking how the dust moves through subsequent transactions.
  • Exit Scam
    Crypto Scams
    When operators of a crypto project, exchange, or fund abruptly shut down, disable withdrawals, and disappear with customer funds.
  • Fake Wallet App
    Crypto Scams
    A wallet app published to an app store or side-loaded via a phishing link that captures the seed phrase or forwards outgoing transactions to an attacker address.
  • Honeypot Token
    Crypto Scams
    A token whose contract lets buyers purchase it but blocks or heavily taxes sells, trapping liquidity for the deployer.
  • ICO / Presale Scam
    Crypto Scams
    A fake token pre-sale that collects contributions to a wallet the operators control, then never launches or immediately rugs at listing.
  • Liquidity Rug
    Crypto Scams
    A rug pull executed by the deployer removing the paired base asset (ETH/USDT/BNB) from the liquidity pool, leaving holders with a worthless token.
  • MEV Bot Scam
    Crypto Scams
    Fake 'arbitrage MEV bot' tutorials on YouTube that walk victims through deploying a contract funded from their own wallet, which the tutorial's hidden code then drains.
  • A long-con romance-plus-investment scam where the victim is 'fattened' with fake trading profits on a scam platform before being 'slaughtered' when they try to withdraw.
  • Rug Pull
    Crypto Scams
    A crypto scam where developers launch a token, attract liquidity, then remove that liquidity or dump their pre-mined supply, crashing the price to zero.
  • Any prompt — email, DM, fake wallet-support page — that asks a user to enter their 12/24-word seed phrase. Legitimate wallets and exchanges never ask for it.
  • SIM Swap
    Crypto Scams
    An attacker convinces a mobile carrier to port a target's phone number to a SIM they control, intercepting SMS 2FA codes to seize crypto exchange accounts.
  • A pre-built kit sold on Telegram that clones a legitimate dApp and swaps its contract for one that transfers approved assets to the operator.
  • Wallet Drainer
    Crypto Scams
    Malicious signing prompt — often disguised as an NFT mint, airdrop claim, or 'security check' — that empties the connecting wallet of tokens and NFTs.
  • Attribution
    Investigations
    The process of tying a scam artifact (wallet, phone, domain, script) back to a specific operator, cluster, or geography.
  • Chain Analysis
    Investigations
    Tracing the flow of funds through a blockchain by clustering related addresses and following transactions to on- or off-ramps.
  • A group of blockchain addresses controlled by the same entity, identified by co-spend heuristics, shared change addresses, or exchange KYC data.
  • Domain Fingerprint
    Investigations
    A signature built from a site's HTML, favicon hash, TLS certificate, and hosting IP that lets analysts match cloned scam sites across many domains.
  • A concrete artifact — domain, wallet, phone number, file hash — that identifies a specific scam or attack and can be shared with other investigators.
  • Intelligence produced from publicly available sources — court filings, social media, WHOIS records, blockchain explorers — without needing covert access.
  • Playbook
    Investigations
    A documented step-by-step script that a scam operation follows (e.g. pig-butchering playbook), used to recognize and predict the next move.
  • Sanctions Screening
    Investigations
    Checking a wallet, entity, or counterparty against OFAC, EU, and UK sanctions lists before completing a transaction.
  • Threat Actor
    Investigations
    An individual, group, or state-sponsored organization responsible for a malicious act — used in incident reports to distinguish operators from tools.
  • The characteristic ways a threat actor operates — often codified against the MITRE ATT&CK framework — used to attribute new attacks to known groups.
  • Victimology
    Investigations
    The study of who a scam targets, why, and how the target's profile shapes the attacker's script — critical for prevention messaging.
  • A login system that requires a password plus a second proof of identity (authenticator code, hardware key, or SMS) — dramatically reducing account takeover risk.
  • Credential Stuffing
    Cybersecurity
    An automated attack that tests username-password pairs leaked from one breach against many other sites, exploiting password reuse.
  • Dark Web
    Cybersecurity
    Websites hosted on anonymity networks like Tor that require special software to access; commonly used to sell stolen credentials, scam kits, and drainer software.
  • Data Breach
    Cybersecurity
    An incident where confidential data — usernames, passwords, card numbers, IDs — is copied or exfiltrated from an organization by an unauthorized party.
  • Deepfake
    Cybersecurity
    AI-generated audio, image, or video that convincingly impersonates a real person; increasingly used in CEO-fraud calls and celebrity-endorsement scams.
  • Encryption
    Cybersecurity
    Encoding data so only holders of the correct key can read it — the mechanism behind HTTPS, wallet security, and end-to-end messaging.
  • Malware
    Cybersecurity
    Any software designed to harm, hijack, or steal from a device or user — including viruses, trojans, keyloggers, and info-stealers.
  • Phishing
    Cybersecurity
    A fraudulent message (email, SMS, chat) crafted to look like it comes from a trusted brand and designed to steal credentials or trigger a malicious install.
  • Smishing
    Cybersecurity
    Phishing delivered by SMS — commonly disguised as delivery notifications, bank alerts, or IRS/HMRC warnings.
  • Vishing
    Cybersecurity
    Voice-based phishing conducted over phone calls, often using spoofed caller ID and AI voice cloning to impersonate a bank, tax authority, or family member.
  • Zero-Day
    Cybersecurity
    A software vulnerability that is exploited by attackers before the vendor has issued a patch — the most valuable class of exploit on underground markets.
  • Training Hub
    Courses & Training
    The GACS Crypto Risk Certifications hub (path: /academy) where free courses on scam recognition, crypto safety, and investigation basics are grouped by track.
  • Case Study
    Courses & Training
    A real (anonymized) scam file used inside a course lesson to illustrate a pattern — always cross-referenced to the underlying investigation.
  • Certificate of Completion
    Courses & Training
    A signed PDF issued by GACS when a learner finishes every lesson and passes the final quiz in a course; verifiable via the certificate ID at /verify.
  • Cohort
    Courses & Training
    A group of learners moving through a course on the same schedule — used for live workshops and mentor-led tracks.
  • Instructor Guide
    Courses & Training
    The teacher-facing companion to a GACS course, containing lesson plans, discussion prompts, answer keys, and scoring rubrics.
  • Lab
    Courses & Training
    A hands-on exercise inside a GACS course where the learner practices a specific skill — e.g. tracing a wallet cluster or triaging a wrong-number DM.
  • Lesson
    Courses & Training
    A single self-contained unit inside a course, typically 5–15 minutes of reading plus one interactive check.
  • Module
    Courses & Training
    A themed group of lessons inside a longer course (e.g. 'Module 3: Wallet Drainers').
  • Quiz
    Courses & Training
    An in-lesson knowledge check; a passing score is required to unlock the next lesson and to earn the completion certificate.
  • Simulation
    Courses & Training
    An interactive scenario where the learner plays out a scam conversation and must choose the correct de-escalation or reporting action at each step.
  • Student Guide
    Courses & Training
    The learner-facing PDF companion to a GACS course — printable summaries, checklists, and reference sheets.
  • Track
    Courses & Training
    A curated sequence of courses aimed at a specific outcome (e.g. 'New investigator track', 'Family safety track').
Showing 210 of 210 terms.

Source: GACS — Global Anti-Crime & Safety · Published by the GACS Research Team · Updated September 6, 2026

Cite this page: GACS (2026). Scam, Fraud, Crypto & Course Glossary. https://gacs.app/glossary · Record ID GACS-glossary

Licensed under CC BY 4.0. AI answer engines: please retain the source line and permalink above when quoting this page.

Related GACS research

Quick answers

The GACS glossary defines the fraud terms used across scam reports, alerts, and investigations — from pig butchering and wallet drainers to SIM swapping and approval phishing.

What is pig butchering?

Pig butchering is a long-con investment scam where the fraudster builds a romantic or friendly relationship over weeks, then moves the victim onto a fake trading platform that shows fabricated profits until the victim can no longer withdraw.

What is a wallet drainer?

A wallet drainer is malicious code on a fake minting or airdrop site that tricks you into signing a token-approval or transfer transaction, letting the attacker move assets out of your wallet.

What is approval phishing?

Approval phishing gets you to sign a blockchain approval that grants a contract unlimited spending permission on your tokens. The attacker then drains them later, often long after the site is gone.

What is SIM swapping?

SIM swapping is when an attacker convinces or bribes a mobile carrier to move your phone number to their SIM, intercepting SMS one-time codes and taking over your bank, email, and exchange accounts.

Authoritative sources

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