smurfing

Breaking up transactions

Smurfing is creating multiple accounts or identities to circumvent rules or gain unfair advantages.

In gaming, it means skilled players making new accounts to compete against beginners: He's clearly smurfing—no new player has that aim.

In finance, it's breaking large transactions into smaller ones to avoid reporting thresholds, a form of money laundering.

The term comes from the cartoon characters, suggesting many small actors working together.

gaming

ranked

Assigned relative position

matchmakingArranging romantic connections
alt accountSecondary online identity
boostingIncreasing force or level

skill rating · sandbagging · deranking · low-level · competitive · leaderboard · MMR · brackets · griefing · unfair advantage

moneylaundering

structuring

Imposing systematic order

depositsMaterial settled or stored
thresholdPoint of beginning
transactionsExchanges of value

cash · placement · layering · integration · money mules · shell companies · bank secrecy · front companies · offshore accounts · dirty money

deception

anonymity

Unknown identity state

disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
maskingConcealing by covering
concealmentAct of hiding something

evasion · obfuscation · identity · pseudonym · misdirection · circumvention · cover · untraceable · hidden · incognito

Categories

financial crimesbank fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud
gaming problemsbugs, glitches, lag, crashes, cheaters
LaunderingAML, money laundering, dirty money, black money, placement
dirty moneydirty money, ill-gotten gains, illicit funds, illicit gains, proceeds of crime
tax crimestax fraud, tax evasion, undeclared income, unreported income, hidden income

Opposites

skill representation

smurfingboosting

Increasing force or level

competitive fairness

smurfingfair play

Honorable conduct in games

transaction structure

smurfingwire transfer

Electronic bank-to-bank payment

Family

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Rated PG