Dec. 09 Blog Fraud Law

In its most general meaning, fraud refers to a willful act of deception for personal benefit or to cause some sort of harm to another individual. The specificities of the legal definition of fraud is subject to jurisdictional particularities. Fraud is considered a crime as well as a violation of civil law. Although many hoaxes are judged to be fraudulent, hoaxes that are not intended to result in personal gain at the expense of another are not, strictly speaking, frauds. Utilizing deception to defraud someone of money is often thought to be the most common form of fraud. Additional types of fraud include fraudulent “discoveries” in fields as divergent as archaeology, science, and art.

It is possible to commit fraud through a variety of means, including mail, wire, phone, and the internet (computer crime and internet fraud). The difficulty of checking identity and legitimacy online, and the ease with which hackers can divert browsers to dishonest sites and steal credit card details, the international dimensions of the web and ease with which users can hide their location, all contribute to making internet fraud the fastest growing area of fraud.

Acts that may be considered criminal fraud include: identity theft, false advertising, embezzlement, bait and switch, false insurance claims, psychic and occult charlatanism, confidence scams (e.g., “Spanish Prisoner,” and Nigerian “419” fraud), forgery, false billing, committing fraud to receive government benefits, investment fraud (e.g., Ponzi scheme), securities fraud (e.g., “pump and dump”), tax fraud, and fraudulent marriage for immigration purposes.

Mueller Hillin specializes in Fraud cases in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston and Austin.