Fraud

Criminal law
Elements
Actus reus Mens rea Causation Concurrence
Scope of criminal liability
Accessory Accomplice Complicity Corporate Principal Vicarious
Severity of offense
Felony (or Indictable offense) Infraction (also called violation) Misdemeanor (or Summary offense)
Inchoate offenses
Attempt Conspiracy Incitement Solicitation
Offense against the person
Assassination Assault Battery Child abuse Criminal negligence Domestic violence False imprisonment Frameup Harassment Home invasion Hate crime Homicide Human trafficking Intimidation Kidnapping Menacing Manslaughter (corporate) Mayhem Murder felony Preterintention Homicide Negligent homicide Robbery Stalking Stabbing Torture
Sexual offenses
Adultery Bigamy Child sexual abuse Cybersex trafficking Fornication Homosexuality Incest Indecent exposure Masturbation Obscenity Prostitution Rape Pederasty Sex trafficking Sexual assault Sexual harassment Sexual slavery Voyeurism
Crimes against property
Arson Arms trafficking Blackmail Bribery Burglary Cybercrime Embezzlement Extortion False pretenses Forgery Fraud Gambling Intellectual property violation Larceny Looting Payola Pickpocketing Possessing stolen property Robbery Smuggling Tax evasion Theft Trespass to land Vandalism, Mischief
Crimes against justice
Compounding Malfeasance in office Miscarriage of justice Misprision Obstruction Perjury Perverting the course of justice
Crimes against the public
Apostasy Begging Corruption Censorship violation Dueling Genocide Hostage-taking Ethnic cleansing Smuggling Illegal consumption (such as prohibition of drugs, alcohol, and smoking) Miscegenation Piracy Regicide Terrorism Usurpation War crimes
Crimes against animals
Cruelty to animals Poaching Wildlife smuggling Bestiality
Crimes against the state
Lèse-majesté Treason Espionage Secession Sedition Subversion
Defenses to liability
Actual innocence Automatism Consent Defense of property Diminished responsibility Duress Entrapment Ignorantia juris non excusat Infancy Insanity Justification Mistake (of law) Necessity Provocation Self-defense
Other common-law areas
Contracts Defenses Evidence Property Torts Wills, trusts and estates
Portals
Law
v t e

In law, fraud is intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong.^[1] The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements.^[2]

Fraud can be defined as either a civil wrong or a criminal act. For civil fraud, a government agency or person or entity harmed by fraud may bring litigation to stop the fraud, seek monetary damages, or both. For criminal fraud, a person may be prosecuted for the fraud and potentially face fines, incarceration, or both.

In common law jurisdictions, as a civil wrong, fraud is a tort. While the precise definitions and requirements of proof vary among jurisdictions, the requisite elements of fraud as a tort generally are the intentional misrepresentation or concealment of an important fact upon which the victim is meant to rely, and in fact does rely, to the harm of the victim.^[3] Proving fraud in a court of law is often said to be difficult as the intention to defraud is the key element in question.^[4] As such, proving fraud comes with a "greater evidentiary burden than other civil claims". This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that some jurisdictions require the victim to prove fraud by clear and convincing evidence.^[5]

The remedies for fraud may include rescission (i.e., reversal) of a fraudulently obtained agreement or transaction, the recovery of a monetary award to compensate for the harm caused, punitive damages to punish or deter the misconduct, and possibly others.^[6]

In cases of a fraudulently induced contract, fraud may serve as a defense in a civil action for breach of contract or specific performance of contract. Similarly, fraud may serve as a basis for a court to invoke its equitable jurisdiction.

In common law jurisdictions, as a criminal offense, fraud takes many different forms, some general (e.g., theft by false pretense) and some specific to particular categories of victims or misconduct (e.g., bank fraud, insurance fraud, forgery). The elements of fraud as a crime similarly vary. The requisite elements of perhaps the most general form of criminal fraud, theft by false pretense, are the intentional deception of a victim by false representation or pretense with the intent of persuading the victim to part with property and with the victim parting with property in reliance on the representation or pretense and with the perpetrator intending to keep the property from the victim.^[7]

The falsification of documents, known as forgery, and counterfeiting are types of fraud involved in physical duplication or fabrication. The "theft" of one's personal information or identity, like one finding out another's social security number and then using it as identification, is a type of fraud. Fraud can be committed through and across many media including mail, wire, phone, and the Internet (computer crime and Internet fraud).

Given the international nature of the web and ease with which users can hide their location, obstacles to checking identity and legitimacy online, and the variety of hacker techniques available to gain access to PII have all contributed to the very rapid growth of Internet fraud.^[8] In some countries, tax fraud is also prosecuted under false billing or tax forgery.^[9] There have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g., science, where the appetite is for prestige rather than immediate monetary gain.^[10]

A hoax is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim.

Internal fraud, also known as "insider fraud", is fraud committed or attempted by someone within an organisation such as an employee.^[11]

The illegal act of obtaining (or the attempt of obtaining) a certain amount of currency in accordance with a contract that promises the later exchange of equated assets, which ultimately never arrive, is a type of fraud, known as commodities fraud.^[12] Alternatively, the term can relate to: the failure of registering in an exchange; the act of deliberately providing falsified information to clients; the action of executing transactions with the sole purpose of making a profit for the payee; the theft of client funds.^{[12][better source needed]}

The detection of fraudulent activities on a large scale is possible with the harvesting of massive amounts of financial data paired with predictive analytics or forensic analytics, the use of electronic data to reconstruct or detect financial fraud.

Using computer-based analytic methods in particular allows for surfacing of errors, anomalies, inefficiencies, irregularities, and biases which often refer to fraudsters gravitating to certain dollar amounts to get past internal control thresholds.^[13] These high-level tests include tests related to Benford's Law and possibly also those statistics known as descriptive statistics. High-level tests are always followed by more focused tests to look for small samples of highly irregular transactions. The familiar methods of correlation and time-series analysis can also be used to detect fraud and other irregularities.^[14]

Participants of a 2010 survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimated that the typical organization loses five percent of its annual revenue to fraud, with a median loss of $160,000. Fraud committed by owners and executives were more than nine times as costly as employee fraud. The industries most commonly affected are banking, manufacturing, and government.^[15]

In China, according to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Crime of Fraud (诈骗罪) refers to the "criminal act of deceiving and obtaining public or private property."^[16]

According to Article 266 of the Criminal Law:^[16]

1. Those who commit fraud involving a "relatively large amount" of public or private property shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or injunction control with community correction, and may additionally or solely be fined.
2. If the amount involved is "large" or there are other serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined.
3. If the amount involved is "particularly large" or there are other particularly serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of over ten years or life imprisonment and shall also be fined or have their property confiscated.

According to the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of the Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Fraud" (关于办理诈骗刑事案件具体应用法律若干问题的解释) issued by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in 2011, for cases of fraud involving public or private property with a value ranging from 3,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan, from 30,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan, and over 500,000 yuan, they should be respectively deemed as "relatively large amount," "large amount," and "particularly large amount" as stipulated in Article 266 of the Criminal Law.^[17]

In India, the criminal laws are enshrined in the Indian Penal Code.^[18] It is supplemented by the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act.

In 2016, the estimated value lost through fraud in the UK was £193 billion a year.^[19]

In January 2018, the Financial Times reported that the value of UK fraud hit a 15-year high of £2.11bn in 2017, according to a study. The article said that the accountancy firm BDO examined reported fraud cases worth more than £50,000 and found that the total number rose to 577 in 2017, compared with 212 in 2003. The study found that the average amount stolen in each incident rose to £3.66m, up from £1.5m in 2003.^[20]

As at November 2017, fraud is the most common criminal offence in the UK according to a study by Crowe Clark Whitehill, Experian and the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies.^[21] The study suggests the UK loses over £190 billion per year to fraud. £190 billion is more than 9% of the UK's projected GDP for 2017 ($2,496 (£2,080) billion according to Statistics Times.^{[citation needed]}) The estimate for fraud in the UK figure is more than the entire GDP of countries such as Romania, Qatar and Hungary.^[22]

According to another review by the UK anti-fraud charity Fraud Advisory Panel (FAP), business fraud accounted for £144bn, while fraud against individuals was estimated at £9.7bn. The FAP has been particularly critical of the support available from the police to victims of fraud in the UK outside of London. Although victims of fraud are generally referred to the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, Action Fraud, the FAP found that there was "little chance" that these crime reports would be followed up with any kind of substantive law enforcement action by UK authorities, according to the report.^[23]

In July 2016, it was reported that fraudulent activity levels in the UK increased in the 10 years leading up to 2016 from £52 billion to £193 bn. This figure would be a conservative estimate, since as the former commissioner of the City of London Police, Adrian Leppard, has said, only 1 in 12 such crimes are actually reported.^[24] Donald Toon, director of the NCA's economic crime command, stated in July 2016: "The annual losses to the UK from fraud are estimated to be more than £190bn". Figures released in October 2015 from the Crime Survey of England and Wales found that there had been 5.1 million incidents of fraud in England and Wales in the previous year, affecting an estimated one in 12 adults and making it the most common form of crime.^[25]

Also in July 2016, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated "Almost six million fraud and cyber crimes were committed last year in England and Wales and estimated there were two million computer misuse offences and 3.8 million fraud offences in the 12 months to the end of March 2016." Fraud affects one in ten people in the UK. According to the ONS, most fraud relates to bank account fraud. These figures are separate from the headline estimate that another 6.3 million crimes (distinct from fraud) were perpetrated in the UK against adults in the year to March 2016.^[26]

Fraud was not included in a "Crime Harm Index" published by the Office for National Statistics in 2016. Michael Levi, professor of criminology at Cardiff University, remarked in August 2016 that it was "deeply regrettable" that fraud was being left out of the first index despite being the most common crime reported to police in the UK. Levi said "If you've got some categories that are excluded, they are automatically left out of the police's priorities."^{[citation needed]} The Chief of the National Audit Office (NAO), Sir Anyas Morse has also said "For too long, as a low-value but high-volume crime, online fraud has been overlooked by government, law enforcement and industry. It is now the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales and demands an urgent response."^[27]

HM Treasury issued guidance to central government departments in January 2011 concerned with "Tackling Internal Fraud", concerned that economic pressures and potential staff redundancies at the time might lead those staff who "might be tempted" to commit fraud to make more of any opportunity which might arise, noting a possible shift in the balance between "the reward from fraud" and the risk of detection.^[28] An aspect of the guidance was to equip staff to look out for "fraud indicators": clues or hints that an individual member of staff, team or area of activity might need "a closer look".^{[28]: Section 4.16}

In 2022, the television program Scam Interceptors revealed that the majority of fraud in the United Kingdom was perpetrated from industrial-scale scamming call centres in Asia.^[29]

Since 2007, fraud in England and Wales and Northern Ireland has been covered by the Fraud Act 2006. The Act was given royal assent on 8 November 2006, and came into effect on 15 January 2007.^[30]

The Act gives a statutory definition of the criminal offence of fraud, defining it in three classes—fraud by false representation, fraud by failing to disclose information, and fraud by abuse of position. It provides that a person found guilty of fraud is liable to a fine or imprisonment for up to six months on summary conviction, or a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years on conviction on indictment. This Act largely replaces the laws relating to obtaining property by deception, obtaining a pecuniary advantage and other offences that were created under the Theft Act 1978.

The Serious Fraud Office is an arm of the Government of the United Kingdom, accountable to the Attorney General for England and Wales.

The National Fraud Authority (NFA) was, until 2014, a government agency coordinating the counter-fraud response in the UK.

Cifas is a British fraud prevention service, a not-for-profit membership organization for all sectors that enables organizations to share and access fraud data using their databases. Cifas is dedicated to the prevention of fraud, including internal fraud by staff, and the identification of financial and related crime.

In Scots law, fraud is covered under the common law and a number of statutory offences. The main fraud offences are common law fraud, uttering, embezzlement, and statutory fraud. The Fraud Act 2006 does not apply in Scotland.

Section 380(1) of the Criminal Code provides the general definition for fraud in Canada:

380. (1) Every one who, by deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means, whether or not it is a false pretence within the meaning of this Act, defrauds the public or any person, whether ascertained or not, of any property, money or valuable security or any service,

(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding fourteen years, where the subject-matter of the offence is a testamentary instrument or the value of the subject-matter of the offence exceeds five thousand dollars; or

(b) is guilty

(i) of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or

(ii) of an offence punishable on summary conviction, where the value of the subject-matter of the offence does not exceed five thousand dollars.^[31]

In addition to the penalties outlined above, the court can also issue a prohibition order under s. 380.2 (preventing a person from "seeking, obtaining or continuing any employment, or becoming or being a volunteer in any capacity, that involves having authority over the real property, money or valuable security of another person"). It can also make a restitution order under s. 380.3.^[32]

The Canadian courts have held that the offence consists of two distinct elements:

• A prohibited act of deceit, falsehood or other fraudulent means. In the absence of deceit or falsehood, the courts will look objectively for a "dishonest act"; and
• The deprivation must be caused by the prohibited act, and deprivation must relate to property, money, valuable security, or any service.^[33]

The Supreme Court of Canada has held that deprivation is satisfied on proof of detriment, prejudice or risk of prejudice; it is not essential that there be actual loss.^[34] Deprivation of confidential information, in the nature of a trade secret or copyrighted material that has commercial value, has also been held to fall within the scope of the offence.^[35]

The proof requirements for criminal fraud charges in the United States are essentially the same as the requirements for other crimes: guilt must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Throughout the United States fraud charges can be misdemeanours or felonies depending on the amount of loss involved. High value fraud can also trigger additional penalties. For example, in California, losses of $500,000 or more will result in an extra two, three, or five years in prison in addition to the regular penalty for the fraud.^[36]

The U.S. government's 2006 fraud review concluded that fraud is a significantly under-reported crime, and while various agencies and organizations were attempting to tackle the issue, greater co-operation was needed to achieve a real impact in the public sector.^[37] The scale of the problem pointed to the need for a small but high-powered body to bring together the numerous counter-fraud initiatives that existed.

Although elements may vary by jurisdiction and the specific allegations made by a plaintiff who files a lawsuit that alleged fraud, typical elements of a fraud case in the United States are that:

1. Somebody misrepresents a material fact in order to obtain action or forbearance by another person
2. The other person relies upon the misrepresentation
3. The other person suffers injury as a result of the act or forbearance taken in reliance upon the misrepresentation

To establish a civil claim of fraud, most jurisdictions in the United States require that each element of a fraud claim be pleaded with particularity and be proved by a preponderance of the evidence,^[38] meaning that it is more likely than not that the fraud occurred. Some jurisdictions impose a higher evidentiary standard, such as Washington State's requirement that the elements of fraud be proved with clear, cogent, and convincing evidence (very probable evidence),^[39] or Pennsylvania's requirement that common law fraud be proved by clear and convincing evidence.^[40]

The measure of damages in fraud cases is normally computed using one of two rules:^[41]

• The "benefit of bargain" rule, which allows for recovery of damages in the amount of the difference between the value of the property had it been as represented and its actual value;
• Out-of-pocket loss, which allows for the recovery of damages in the amount of the difference between the value of what was given and the value of what was received.

Special damages may be allowed if shown to have been proximately caused by defendant's fraud and the damage amounts are proved with specificity.

Some jurisdictions may permit a plaintiff in a fraud case to seek punitive or exemplary damages.^[42]

Beyond legislation directed at preventing or punishing fraud, some governmental and non-governmental organizations engage in anti-fraud efforts.

Between 1911 and 1933, 47 states adopted the so-called Blue Sky Laws status.^[43] These laws were enacted and enforced at the state level and regulated the offering and sale of securities to protect the public from fraud. Though the specific provisions of these laws varied among states, they all required the registration of all securities offerings and sales, as well as of every U.S. stockbroker and brokerage firm.^[44] However, these Blue Sky laws were generally found to be ineffective.

To increase public trust in the capital markets the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, established the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).^[45] The main reason for the creation of the SEC was to regulate the stock market and prevent corporate abuses relating to the offering and sale of securities and corporate reporting. The SEC was given the power to license and regulate stock exchanges, the companies whose securities traded on them, and the brokers and dealers who conducted the trading.^[46]

Rate of fraud per capita for individual countries as reported by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is shown below for the last available year.^[47] Definitions of fraud and fraction of unreported fraud might differ for each country,.

Country	Reported annual frauds per 100,000[47]	Year
Albania	34.1	2022
Algeria	3.1	2022
Antigua and Barbuda	25.6	2022
Armenia	53.1	2018
Australia	32.2	2022
Austria	787.8	2022
Azerbaijan	20.3	2020
Bahamas	132.4	2022
Barbados	42.3	2022
Belgium	808.8	2020
Belize	0.0	2020
Bermuda	137.9	2016
Bolivia	0.0	2022
Bosnia and Herzegovina	18.1	2022
Botswana	7.4	2020
Bulgaria	33.9	2022
Canada	464.9	2022
Chile	374.6	2022
Colombia	119.1	2022
Costa Rica	319.8	2022
Croatia	86.5	2022
Cyprus	38.2	2022
Czech Republic	153.4	2022
Denmark	972.1	2022
Dominica	37.1	2022
Dominican Republic	36.8	2020
Ecuador	187.1	2022
El Salvador	100.5	2022
England and Wales	1619.5	2021
Estonia	197.0	2022
Finland	973.1	2022
France	401.5	2022
Germany	961.3	2022
Greece	99.0	2022
Grenada	51.8	2022
Guatemala	0.5	2020
Guyana	4.9	2022
Hungary	209.1	2022
Iceland	146.4	2022
Indonesia	9.6	2018
Ireland	204.2	2022
Israel	210.5	2022
Italy	694.8	2022
Japan	30.6	2022
Jordan	36.0	2022
Kenya	0.9	2022
Kosovo	28.0	2020
Kyrgyzstan	276.3	2020
Latvia	126.1	2022
Lebanon	3.0	2015
Liechtenstein	500.9	2022
Lithuania	144.3	2022
Luxembourg	724.1	2022
Macau	189.2	2022
Malta	292.9	2022
Mexico	87.9	2022
Monaco	1559.2	2016
Mongolia	129.6	2020
Montenegro	6.2	2022
Morocco	28.7	2022
Myanmar	3.8	2022
Netherlands	367.9	2016
New Zealand	58.8	2020
Norway	424.1	2022
Oman	36.5	2022
Palestine	20.6	2022
Panama	110.2	2022
Paraguay	122.0	2022
Peru	75.4	2022
Poland	437.9	2022
Portugal	434.9	2022
Puerto Rico	10.5	2017
Romania	62.4	2022
Russia	226.0	2020
Saint Kitts and Nevis	37.8	2022
Saint Lucia	309.7	2022
Scotland	307.3	2022
Senegal	0.1	2016
Serbia	46.3	2022
Singapore	568.2	2022
Slovakia	37.6	2022
Slovenia	172.7	2022
Spain	921.4	2022
Sri Lanka	28.2	2018
St. Vincent and Grenadines	1.0	2022
Sweden	2357.8	2022
Switzerland	294.7	2022
Syria	3.6	2018
Thailand	27.0	2022
Trinidad and Tobago	33.1	2020
Turkey	109.7	2014
Ukraine	58.5	2020
United Arab Emirates	45.4	2016
United States of America	272.1	2022
Uruguay	576.8	2022
Vatican City	0.0	2022

Apart from fraud, there are several related categories of intentional deceptions that may or may not include the elements of personal gain or damage to another individual:

• Obstruction of justice
• 18 U.S.C. § 704 which criminalizes false representation of having been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces of the United States

• Edward J. Balleisen Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff. ISBN 978-0691164557 (2017). Princeton University Press.
• Fred Cohen Frauds, Spies, and Lies – and How to Defeat Them. ISBN 1-878109-36-7 (2006). ASP Press.
• Green, Stuart P. Lying, Cheating, and Stealing: A Moral Theory of White Collar Crime. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0199225804
• Review Fraud – Alex Copola Podgor, Ellen S. Criminal Fraud, (1999) Vol, 48, No. 4 American Law Review 1.
• The Nature, Extent and Economic Impact of Fraud in the UK. February, 2007.
• The Fraudsters – How Con Artists Steal Your Money. ISBN 978-1-903582-82-4 by Eamon Dillon, published September 2008 by Merlin Publishing
• Zhang, Yingyu. The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection. Columbia University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0231178631

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fraud.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Fraud.

• The dictionary definition of fraud at Wiktionary
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners
• "Common Scams and Crimes" list from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division