Cons Dictionary

balloon mortgage: A balloon mortgage offers lower monthly payments initially with a lump sum payment required at a specified time.

big con: A con that cannot be completed immediately. Usually the victim needs to go get money.

bizopps: Business opportunities that deliberately promise earnings that are unattainable to lure investors.

bogus: Counterfeit or fake.

boiler room: Sales room filled with high pressure telemarketers.

buyer scam: A con in which a victim is sent a bogus check, of which he keeps a “commission” and then sends a “balance” check back to the con artist. For this con to work, the victim has to send money to the con artist before realizing the check is bogus.

chain letter: A letter, email, or fax that asks the recipient to send out the same message to a number of other people to “keep the message going.”

check washing: A person can dip a check into acetone, which dissolves ink off the check. Then, the person can write a larger dollar amount onto the check.

collude: To work together to con or defraud someone else.

come on: The “hook” or advantage that con artists use to entice victims into the scam.

con: See scam.

con artist: A person who runs a scam or con.

counterfeit: Faked or forged.

credit card fraud: A con in which purchases are made using lost or stolen credit card numbers.

credit report: A profile of each person's credit history that financial institutions use help determine whether you are capable of repaying a loan.

credit reporting agencies: Three major companies, Experiam, Equifax and TransUnion, which track credit and provide credit reports to individuals or companies with legitimate requests.

defraud: To use deceit or cheat to gain a money, jewelry or some other valuable commodity.

dummy: Non-existent or fictitious.

earnest money: Money spent to show that you plan to follow through on a transaction.