Fraud has always been a part of society; the only thing that has changed is the face of fraud.
As society develops along with advances in technology, there are more ways than ever for people to take advantage of other people.
The world is always balancing the good with the bad, the yin with yang.
While it may be impossible to stop fraud in its tracks, understanding what it is and how others pull it off will help to keep you safe and let stay focused on more important things in your life.
A good definition is the following taken from the Collins English Dictionary (10th Edition): fraud is "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage".
It is always intentional and deceptive, usually for personal gain or to purposely damage another individual.
It is a crime as well as a civil law violation.
There are many ways for an individual to commit fraud.
The most popular channels are: mail, phone, Internet, business transactions and the computer.
The web has made it very easy for individuals to hide their identity and location and use others' personal information.
This particular angle has greatly increased the amount of fraudulent activity and at the same time made it very hard to detect, stop and protect against.
Types of criminal fraud include: false advertising, bankruptcy fraud, false insurance claims, forgery, identity theft, insurance fraud, investment frauds, tax frauds, etc.
A common thread in fraudulent activity is deception and monetary damage on the party that is deceived.
Fraud is tricky because you have to prove deliberate deception and misinterpretation of the facts.
You have to be able to show that a seller knew beforehand that a product was flawed or that an investment was worth nothing.
Sometimes a person may not have had any previous knowledge of the deception himself and was unknowingly passing that along to you.
Sometimes that is not the case; the seller had clear knowledge that the act was dishonest.
Laws also very depending on the state so it is important to know where your state stands on fraud if you are going to take a person to court.
Another complicated element to proving fraud is the fact that you are responsible for thorough investigation if you enter into a business relationship with a customer or investor.
If you didn't do your homework it can hurt your court case.
The accused party can claim that you should have investigated to uncover if there was fraudulent activity taking place.
It gets even more problematic if you have signed a binding contract.
Then undesirable outcomes can be viewed as remorse over the terms of the deal and not necessarily fraud.
Fraud is an unfortunate, but very real, part of our society and you have to be aware of the many ways that people can take advantage of you and your property.
It is important to investigate any action that you are considering before you hand over any money or sign any contract.
It is also important to understand how to keep your identity online as safe as possible so hackers are unable to steal your information to commit online fraud.
Educate yourself to greatly lessen the chances being a victim of fraud.