In the broadest sense, a is a Deception made for personal gain. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a Crime , and is also a Civil Law violation.
Many Hoaxes are fraudulent, although those not made for personal gain are not technically frauds. Defrauding people of money is presumably the most common type of fraud, but there have also been many fraudulent "discoveries" in Art , Archaeology , and Science .
In objects. In the criminal law of Common Law jurisdictions it may be called "theft by deception," " Larceny by trick," "larceny by fraud and deception" or something similar.
In Academia and Science , fraud can refer to – the falsifying of research findings which is a form of Scientific Misconduct – and in common use '''intellectual fraud''' signifies falsification of a position taken or implied by an author or speaker, within a book, controversy or debate, or an idea deceptively presented to hide known logical weaknesses. Journalistic Fraud implies a similar notion, the falsification of journalistic findings.
Fraud can be committed through many methods, including Mail , Wire , Phone , and the Internet ( Computer Crime and Internet Fraud ).
Acts which may constitute criminal fraud include:
Fraud, in addition to being a criminal act, is also a type of Civil Law violation known as a '' Tort ''. A tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. A civil fraud typically involves the act of intentionally making a false representation of a material fact, with the intent to deceive, which is reasonably relied upon by another person to that person's detriment. A "false representation" can take many forms, such as:
- A false statement of fact, known to be false at the time it was made;
- A statement of fact with no reasonable basis to make that statement;
- A promise of future performance made with an intent, at the time the promise was made, not to perform as promised;
- A statement of opinion based on a false statement of fact;
- A statement of opinion that the maker knows to be false; or
- An expression of opinion that is false, made by one claiming or implying to have special knowledge of the subject matter of the opinion. "Special knowledge" in this case means knowledge or information superior to that possessed by the other party, and to which the other party did not have equal access.
In the UK a report concluded that the total costs of fraud and dealing with fraud in the year 2005-2006 was at least 13.9 Billion GBP.
- Frank Abagnale Jr. , US Impostor who wrote bad checks and falsely represented himself as a qualified member of professions such as airline pilot, doctor, and attorney. The film '' Catch Me If You Can ''is based on his life.
- Cassie Chadwick , who pretended to be Andrew Carnegie 's daughter to get loans.
- Richard Eaton , an English businessman who was business partners with mobster Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke and was involved in the Lufthansa Heist .
- Shinichi Fujimura , Japanese archaeologist who announced on October 23 , 2000 that he had discovered eight stoneware pieces, from a layer of earth, more than 600,000 years old in the Kamitakamori ruins in Tsukidate, Miyagi Prefecture, believed to be the nation's oldest. However, Fujimura confessed that he had buried the stones at the ruins in advance of the excavation.
- Konrad Kujau , German fraudster and forger responsible for the " Hitler Diaries ".
- Kenneth Lay , the American businessman who built energy company Enron. He was one of the highest paid CEOs in America until he was ousted as Chairman and was convicted of fraud and conspiracy, although as a result of his death, his conviction was vacated.1
- Nick Leeson , English trader whose unsupervised speculative trading caused the collapse of Barings Bank.
- James Paul Lewis, Jr. , ran one of the biggest ($311 million) and longest running Ponzi Schemes (20 years) in US history.
- Colleen McCabe , British headmistress who stole £½ million from her school.
- Gregor MacGregor , Scottish conman who tried to attract investment and settlers for the non-existent country of Poyais .
- Gaston Means , a professional conman during U.S. President Warren G. Harding 's administration.
- Michael Milken , "The Junk Bond King".
- Barry Minkow and the ''ZZZZ Best'' scam.
- Lou Pearlman , former boy-band indicted by a federal grand jury in Orlando on charges that he schemed to bilk banks out of more than $100 million.
- Frederick Emerson Peters , US impersonator who wrote bad checks.
- Charles Ponzi and the Ponzi Scheme .
- Alves Reis , who forged documents to print 100,000,000 PTE in official Escudo banknotes (adjusted for inflation, it would be worth about US$150 million today).
- Christopher Rocancourt , a Rockefeller impersonator who defrauded Hollywood celebrities.
- John Spano , a struggling businessman who faked massive success in an attempt to buy out the New York Islanders of the NHL .
- John Stonehouse , the last Postmaster-General of the UK and MP who faked his death.
- Richard Whitney , who stole from the New York Stock Exchange Gratuity Fund in the 1930s.
- Fred Cohen. ''Frauds, Spies, and Lies - and How to Defeat Them''. ISBN 1-878109-36-7 (2006). ASP Press.
- Podgor, Ellen S. ''Criminal Fraud'', (1999) Vol, 48, No. 4 American Law Review 1 Review Fraud - Alex Copola
- The Nature, Extent and Economic Impact of Fraud in the UK. "Feb,2007", http://www.acpo.police.uk/asp/policies/Data/Fraud%20in%20the%20UK.pdf).
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