ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Religious fraud

So imagine you have some toys that you love to play with. And your friend knows how much you love your toys, so they come to you and say "If you give me all your toys, I promise I'll give them back to you later, but first you need to give me some money." But then your friend takes your toys and never gives them back. That's kind of like religious fraud.

Religious fraud is when someone pretends to be a religious leader, like a pastor or a guru or a rabbi, but they use their position to trick people into giving them money or other things. They might say things like "If you give me money, God will bless you" or "If you don't follow my rules, you'll go to hell." But really, they're just trying to get money or power for themselves.

Sometimes these frauds use fancy buildings or expensive clothes or fancy cars to make themselves look very important or holy. But just because someone looks important, doesn't mean they actually are. And it's always important to be careful when someone asks you for money or tries to control you in the name of religion.