Money laundering is the process of making the proceeds of criminal activity appear to have been legally obtained. According to the World Bank, criminals launder around two to nearly four trillion dollars on a year to year basis. Financing is an especially key step in financing terrorist activities. Terrorism is an expensive undertaking, and as such, the money enables terrorist organizations with the capacity to carry out terrorist activities. The funds that they acquire can come from both legitimate sources (i.e. profits from businesses and charitable organizations) and criminal sources (i.e. Drug trade, weapon smuggling, kidnapping for ransom). While terrorist financiers continue to use cash, gold, and bank wire transfers to raise or move funds, they also increasingly use new and alternative methods. Terrorists have been observed to use virtual assets, prepaid cards, and online crowdfunding websites, which now represent an emerging vulnerability.