Fraud
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| Criminal law |
|---|
| Part of the common law series |
| Element (criminal law) |
| Actus reus · Mens rea Causation · Concurrence |
| Scope of criminal liability |
| Complicity · Corporate · Vicarious |
| Inchoate offenses |
| Attempt · Conspiracy · Solicitation |
| Offence against the person |
| Assault · Battery False imprisonment · Kidnapping Mayhem · Sexual assault |
| Crimes against property |
| Arson · Blackmail · Burglary Embezzlement · Extortion False pretenses · Larceny Receiving stolen property Robbery · Theft |
| Crimes against justice |
| Compounding · Misprision Obstruction · Perjury Malfeasance in office Perverting the course of justice |
| Defenses to liability |
| Defense of self Defence of property Consent · Diminished responsibility Duress · Entrapment Ignorantia juris non excusat Infancy · Insanity Intoxication defense Justification · Mistake (of law) Necessity · Provocation |
| Other common law areas |
| Contracts · Evidence · Property Torts · Wills, trusts and estates |
| Portals |
| Criminal justice · Law |
The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g. in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain.
A hoax also involves deception, but without the intention of gain, or of damaging or depriving the victim; the intention is often humorous.
Contents[show] |
[edit] Types of fraudulent acts
Fraud can be committed through many media, including mail, wire, phone, and the Internet (computer crime and Internet fraud). The international dimensions of the web and ease with which users can hide their location, the difficulty of checking identity and legitimacy online, and the simplicity with which crackers can divert browsers to dishonest sites and steal credit card details have all contributed to the very rapid growth of Internet fraud.Types of criminal fraud include:
- bait and switch
- bankruptcy fraud
- benefit fraud, committing fraud to get government benefits
- counterfeiting of currency, documents or valuable goods
- charlatanism
- confidence tricks such as the 419 fraud and Spanish Prisoner
- creation of false companies or "long firms"
- embezzlement, taking money which one has been entrusted with on behalf of another party
- false advertising
- false billing
- false insurance claims
- forgery of documents or signatures,
- fraud upon the court
- health fraud, for example selling of products known not to be effective, such as quack medicines,
- identity theft
- investment frauds, such as Ponzi schemes and Pyramid schemes
- Moving scam
- religious fraud
- marriage fraud to obtain immigration rights without entitlement
- rigged gambling games such as the shell game
- securities frauds such as pump and dump
- tax fraud, not reporting revenue or illegally avoiding taxes. In some countries, tax fraud is also prosecuted under false billing or tax forgery[1]
[edit] Elements of fraud
Common law fraud has nine elements:[2][3]- a representation of an existing fact;
- its materiality;
- its falsity;
- the speaker's knowledge of its falsity;
- the speaker's intent that it shall be acted upon by the plaintiff;
- plaintiff's ignorance of its falsity;
- plaintiff's reliance on the truth of the representation;
- plaintiff's right to rely upon it; and
- consequent damages suffered by plaintiff.