Ricettazione is a legal term for handling, buying, hiding, or moving assets that are believed to come from a crime. In plain terms, it refers to dealing with criminal proceeds after the original offense has already occurred. In cyber security, this matters because fraud rarely ends with the first stolen payment or account takeover; attackers often need a way to convert stolen value into something usable.
Ricettazione appears in real attacks when criminals move money through mule accounts, fake merchants, crypto exchanges, or layered transfers designed to obscure the source of funds. It also appears in defenses when banks, payment providers, and investigators flag unusual transfer patterns, repeated deposits, or accounts that act as pass-throughs. Detecting ricettazione helps disrupt the monetization stage of cybercrime, which can be as important as blocking the initial intrusion or scam.