Affinity Fraud

Affinity Fraud

A type of fraud where a con artist targets members of a particular group. For example, a con artist may mail donation solicitations to political activists asking for money to pressure the government for a certain cause, when the donations, in fact, go to the con artist himself. Likewise, the con artist may convince members of a religious or ethnic group to donate to a made-up organization to protect the rights of the group. See also: Pyramid Scheme.

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affinity fraud

Investment scams that target members of identifiable groups, including elderly, ethnic, professional, and religious groups. Perpetrators of affinity fraud are often either members of the targeted group or individuals who enlist the assistance of leaders in order to exploit the trust of members of the group. See also pyramid.

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Affinity fraud. Affinity fraud occurs when a dishonest person plays on your affiliation with a group -- such as a house of worship, social club, support group, charity, or veterans' group -- as a way to win your confidence in order to sell you something worthless or trick you into handing over cash.

The scammer may actually be a member of the group or may just pretend to be.

Affinity fraud is one the most difficult scams to protect yourself against because being suspicious of colleagues can undermine the reason you belong to a group.