Fraud
Fraud is defined as an intentional deception for unlawful personal gain.http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:fraud&sa=X&ei=_ktfTMvQBoWClAfEmcWZCA&ved=0CBUQkAE With the vast reach of the Internet, fraud is becoming an increasing threat through scams and other online fraud activity. There are many companies and security measures that have been put in place to prevent fraud and other crimes from occurring. These can be found in the designs for computer antivirus software to credit monitoring services that alert consumers to abnormal activity regarding their credit.http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage http://www.identitymonitor.citi.com/
Fraud occurs when information is either omitted or purposefully altered in order to gain better results. This can be seen on insurance claims, loan applications, credit card applications or other documents that require factual information. Fraud may be facilitated for financial gain, to obtain benefits that a person would not be entitled to under normal circumstances or to receive better terms of an agreement.http://www.lectlaw.com/def/f079.htm
Types of Fraud
- Internet Fraud - refers to any schemes that are facilitated using the Internet or other online services. These fraudulent activities can include merchant scams, identity theft, online credit card fraud and other crimes.http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes.htm
- Insurance Fraud - occurs when claims are filed with insurance companies to obtain benefits that would not otherwise be paid without lying or deceitful actions.http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0300-fraud/0100-fraud-division-overview/0100-what-is-insurance-fraud/
- Identity Theft - any time personal information of a person is used without their consent for purposes of committing a crime or engage in a fraudulent action.http://101-identitytheft.com/idtheft.htm
- Welfare Fraud - is when benefits are awarded under false pretenses and would not be provided with the correct information.http://da.co.la.ca.us/wf/default.htm
- Mortgage Fraud - purposefully providing incorrect information for the purposes of receiving larger loan amounts or better financing terms. http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/preventfraud/types.html
Internet Fraud
Online schemes are becoming increasingly popular as more and more activity is becoming Internet based. Also social networks can be used to obtain personal information about someone and that information is then used to facilitate a scam that is personalized to them. By using the Internet, many criminals have devised complex scams that target anyone based on their online activity.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
There were 275,284 complaints filed in 2008 with the Internet Crime Complaint Center
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Fact:
32.9 percent of the complaints filed with the IC3 were due to non-receipt of merchandise or goods
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Fact:
In 2009 there were 1,574 cases of mortgage fraud investigated by the FBI Mortgage Fraud Investigators
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Fact:
Almost 10 million people fell victim to identity theft in 2008
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Fact:
An estimated $80 billion dollars is lost on fraudulent prescriptions each year
