fraud

fraud
fraudful, adj.fraudfully, adv.
/frawd/, n.
1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickery: mail fraud; election frauds.
3. any deception, trickery, or humbug: That diet book is a fraud and a waste of time.
4. a person who makes deceitful pretenses; sham; poseur.
[1300-50; ME fraude < OF < ML fraud- (s. of fraus) deceit, injury]
Syn. 1. See deceit. 3. wile, hoax.

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In law, the deliberate misrepresentation of fact for the purpose of depriving someone of a valuable possession or legal right.

Any omission or concealment that is injurious to another or that allows a person to take unconscionable advantage of another may constitute criminal fraud. The most common type of fraud is the obtaining of property by giving a check for which there are insufficient funds in the signer's account. Another is the assumption of someone else's or a fictitious identity with the intent to deceive. Also important are mail and wire fraud (fraud committed by use of the postal service or electronic devices, such as telephones or computers). A tort action based on fraud is sometimes referred to as an action of deceit.

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law
      in law, the deliberate misrepresentation of fact for the purpose of depriving someone of a valuable possession. Although fraud is sometimes a crime in itself, more often it is an element of crimes such as obtaining money by false pretense or by impersonation.

      European legal codes and their derivatives often broadly define fraud to include not only intentional misrepresentations of fact, clearly designed to trick another into parting with valuable property, but also misunderstandings arising out of normal business transactions. Thus, any omission or concealment that is injurious to another or that allows a person to take unconscionable advantage of another may constitute criminal fraud. In Anglo-American legal systems, this latter type of fraud may be treated as deceit, subject to action in civil rather than criminal law.

      A common type of criminal fraud is the obtaining of property by giving a check for which there are insufficient funds in the signer's account. Another is the so-called confidence game (q.v.), which involves not only a misrepresentation of fact but also the betrayal of confidence induced by the offender in the victim. The fraud of impersonation is the false representation by one person that he is another or that he occupies the position of another. See also embezzlement; theft.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • fraud — n [Latin fraud fraus] 1 a: any act, expression, omission, or concealment calculated to deceive another to his or her disadvantage; specif: a misrepresentation or concealment with reference to some fact material to a transaction that is made with… …   Law dictionary

  • Fraud — • In the common acceptation of the word, an act or course of deception deliberately practised with the view of gaining a wrong and unfair advantage Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Fraud     Fraud …   Catholic encyclopedia

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  • Fraud — (fr[add]d), n. [F. fraude, L. fraus, fraudis; prob. akin to Skr. dh[=u]rv to injure, dhv[.r] to cause to fall, and E. dull.] 1. Deception deliberately practiced with a view to gaining an unlawful or unfair advantage; artifice by which the right… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • fraud — [ frɔd ] noun ** 1. ) count or uncount the crime of obtaining money from someone by tricking them: Police are investigating a complex fraud involving several bogus contractors. tax/insurance/benefit fraud a ) only before noun relating to fraud:… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Fraud — hat verschiedene Bedeutungen: Fraud griech. Apate oder auch Fraus ist die Göttin der Falschheit aus griech./ röm. Mythologie. Ist das weibliche Pendant von Dolos (/röm. Dolus). Fraud ist ein vom englischen fraud übernommener, in der Fachsprache… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • fraud — criminal deception, early 14c., from O.Fr. fraude deception, fraud (13c.), from L. fraudem (nom. fraus) deceit, injury. The noun meaning impostor, humbug is attested from 1850. Pious fraud deception practiced for the sake of what is deemed a good …   Etymology dictionary

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  • fraud — [n1] trickery, deception artifice, bamboozlement*, blackmail, cheat, chicane, chicanery, con, craft*, deceit, double dealing*, dupery, duping, duplicity, extortion, fake, fast one*, fast shuffle*, flimflam*, fourberie, fraudulence, graft, guile,… …   New thesaurus

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