Jargon buster

Your guide to the language of fraud and security

419 fraud

See 'advanced fee fraud'

Advance fee fraud

Any fraud - usually an email - which asks for a fee in order to release a large amount of money. The promised money will never arrive, and fraudsters will typically gather a series of payment from their victims.

Anti-spyware

Software which protects your computer from spyware.

Anti-virus

Software which protects your computer from virus infection.

Card-Reader

A small, hand-held security device that you will use with a card to authorise certain transactions. It doesn't keep any personal information about you. It simply verifies numbers during a transaction.

Firewall

A piece of software - now built into modern operating systems - which helps protect your computer from online attacks.

Identity theft

Theft of your personal or financial details. Criminals use these details to impersonate people, open bank accounts, obtain credit or set up businesses.

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Money mule

A scam where people are offered a one-off payment or series of payments in exchange for providing their account details. This scam helps third parties ‘launder' the proceeds of crime.

Phishing

Convincing - but fraudulent - emails designed to persuade you to give out your personal information, such as passwords.

Router

The hardware or software that manages the connection between online networks. In other words, it tells your computer how to connect to your internet service provider (ISP).

Spam

Any unsolicited email message. Many spam messages are scams, designed to gather your personal information or persuade you to buy low quality goods.

Spyware

Spyware can secretly gather your personal information and pass it to a third party.

SSID broadcast

An SSID (service set identifier) is also referred to as a network name - it's the name that identifies a wireless network. The continuous announcement of the SSID by a wireless router is called an SSID broadcast.

Trojan

A piece of unwanted software which is disguised as something you want - such as a game or a video file. Often Trojans try to steal your personal information, such as passwords.

URL

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a website on the internet, for example http://www.rbs.co.uk

Virus

Viruses can steal your personal information, destroy your data or disrupt your computer.

Wireless network

A wireless network allows you to connect your laptop to the internet without having to use a cable. The connection is made from your laptop using radio technologies, so the laptop needs to be close to a wireless router.

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