Synthetic identity
An identity assembled from real fragments and invented ones: a genuine national identifier belonging to somebody who does not use it, paired with a fabricated name, date of birth and address. Built to pass verification rather than to impersonate anyone.
Why it matters to you
There is no victim to call, which is why these survive so long. Nobody disputes a charge, nobody reports a stolen identity, and the account behaves perfectly for months while it builds a credit history. It is found by looking for identities with no history before a certain date, not by looking for complaints.
Where we meet it
These are sold aged. An identity with a manufactured history is worth several times a fresh one, and the waiting is part of the product rather than a delay in delivering it. That patience is what separates this from ordinary identity fraud.
Connected terms
Fullz
A complete identity kit for one person (name, national ID, date of birth, address, banking details) packaged for fraud. Sold per record, priced by country and completeness.
KYC pack
A set of identity documents assembled to pass a verification check: ID scans, a selfie holding the document, a utility bill, sometimes a short video. Sold to open accounts in someone else's name.
Drop
A money or goods mule: the recruited (sometimes unwitting) person whose bank account or address launders the proceeds. Recruited openly, in "work" channels, at scale.
Where this term stops being vocabulary
Dragnet is where you watch it happen to you
Knowing the word is the cheap half. The platform is the half where the term arrives attached to your domain, with a timestamp and the source it came from.
More from the goods
Bank log
Access to a compromised online banking account, sold with the balance quoted in the listing. Priced as a fraction of what it holds, because the buyer still has to get the money out.
BIN
The first six to eight digits of a payment card, identifying the issuing bank, the country and the card product. Not stolen data in itself, but the index the trade is organised around: cards are advertised, sorted and priced by BIN.
Card dump
The magnetic-stripe data read off a payment card, sold for cloning into a physical one. Distinct from card-not-present data, priced higher, and slowly becoming a legacy good as chip and contactless spread.
Combolist
A recycled email:password list compiled from old breaches and other people's logs, resold in bulk. The fast food of the credential economy: cheap, stale, everywhere.