familiar fraud

familiar fraud (countable and uncountable, plural familiar frauds)

1. A type of fraud in which someone fraudulently opens accounts or makes purchases in someone else's name, in which the victim is a close friend or family member.
   • 2015 July 21, Kelli Grant, “Identity theft victims: You might know the culprit”, in CNBC‎, archived from the original on 2021-11-05:

     Familiar fraud cases trace back to family members as offenders, as well as friends, neighbors, coworkers and in-home employees.

   • 2019 March 18, Tom Groenfeldt, “Credit Card Fraud Is Down, But Account Fraud That Directly Hurts Consumers Remains High”, in Forbes‎, archived from the original on 2022-09-25:

     Addressing, much less prosecuting, familiar fraud is difficult because victims often don't want to hurt the fraudster but then wind up with the financial loss.

   • 2021 August 21, Ethen Kim Lieser, quoting myFICO, “This Is Why Crooks Want Your Child's Social Security Number”, in The National Interest‎, archived from the original on 2021-08-17:

     Familiar fraud can be particularly difficult to deal with as you might not want to press charges against a close friend or family member.