Glossary for Scams to Avoid
From Clicklaw Wikibooks
Revision as of 01:54, 24 April 2017 by Elena Renderos (talk | contribs)
This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School in March 2017. |
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- Catphishing
- When someone assumes a fake identity to lure another person into an emotional or romantic relationship with them, so they can trick them out of their money.
- Consumer
- A person who buys goods or services.
- Contract
- A legally recognized agreement made between two or more people.
- Credit
- The ability to obtain money or value based on trust that payment will be made in the future.
- Credit report
- A detailed list of a person’s credit and bill-paying history, and other information about them.
- Credit score
- A number that expresses the information in a person’s credit report at one point in time. The score indicates the risk the person represents for lenders, compared with other people, on a scale from 300 to 900. The higher the score, the lower the risk for lenders.
- Creditor
- A person or company to whom another person owes money or an obligation.
- Debt
- A sum of money or an obligation owed by one person to another.
- Fraud
- To intentionally deceive someone in order to gain an unfair or illegal advantage.
- Identity theft
- When someone takes personal information and uses it to access that person’s finances, make purchases in their name, or commit other crimes.
- Malware
- Software used to disrupt use of a computer or other device or gain access to sensitive information on the device.
- Phishing
- When someone sends a fake email or text to trick a person into handing over personal and financial information. Their message is being used as bait to “fish” for victims.
- Scam
- An illegal or dishonest scheme to trick people out of their money.
- Spam
- Email that is not wanted.
- Spyware
- Malicious software installed on a device without the owner realizing it.
- Virus
- A harmful software program.
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