Crossword Genius

False identities criminal individual uses for shady e-mail scams, primarily (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aliases

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'false identities' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'criminal individual uses for shady e-mail scams primarily' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'individual' could be 'i' (Roman numeral for one, ie individual) and 'i' is located in the answer.
'e' could be 'es' (synonyms) and 'es' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'alas' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aliases that I've seen before include "A lassie with false names" , "handles affected?" , "False identities" , "Pseudonyms" , "Assumed identities" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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