page_title: Fraud
section_title: Types of fraudulent acts
hierarchical_section_title: Fraud / Types of fraudulent acts
caption_attribution_description: English: A work at home at placed on public property, with personal info blanked out
context_page_description: In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law, a criminal law, or it may cause no loss of money, property or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements.
  A hoax is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim.
context_section_description: The falsification of documents, known as forgery, and counterfeiting are types of fraud involved in physical duplication or fabrication. The "theft" of one's personal information or identity, like one finding out another's social security number and then using it as identification, is a type of fraud. Fraud can be committed through and across many media including mail, wire, phone, and the Internet (computer crime and Internet fraud). Given the international nature of the web and ease with which users can hide their location, obstacles to checking identity and legitimacy online, and the variety of hacker techniques available to gain access to PII have all contributed to the very rapid growth of Internet fraud. In some countries, tax fraud is also prosecuted under false billing or tax forgery. There have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g., science, where the appetite is for prestige rather than immediate monetary gain.
caption: A possibly fraudulent "work from home" advertisement
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