Consumer Fraud

Fraud is a purposeful, unlawful act to deceive, manipulate, or provide false statements to damage others. In general, fraud is viewed as false communication that conceals or contains a scheme to create a materially false statement or representation. Often, fraud is associated with documents that are transmitted by mail, by wire, or through any type of electronic signal to a receiver. Statements that a court determines as false or fictitious or that have the intent to deceive constitute a crime and are subject to a fine or imprisonment or both. In 2005, fraud cost U.S. organizations more than $600 billion annually, and consumers lose more than $30 billion annually from fraud. The U.S. Department of Justice has identified major categories of consumer fraud, including identity ...