Fraud is defined in criminal law. It is a purposeful deception that one commits for personal gain or in order to hurt another individual. According to the legal jurisdiction where fraud may have been perpetrated, the specific definition for fraud can vary by jurisdiction. The act of defrauding somebody is not only a crime, but also a violation of civil law. A usual intent behind fraud is getting money or other kinds of valuables from people.

Types of Consumer Fraud

Consumer fraud can be broken down into five different types. The first kind of consumer fraud is the cashier’s check fraud, which involves the fraudsters capitalizing on the amount of trust that persons place into cashier’s checks. The goal of cashier’s check fraud is to either purloin money from a person’s account or to elude having to pay people for a good or a service. The next type of consumer fraud is unauthorized or fictitious banking, which is a bank that conducts business without having a license or even a charter.

The third type of consumer fraud is high yield investment fraud or prime bank fraud, which involves trading or issuing any prime world bank, prime European bank or prime bank financial instruments that are not in existence. Identity theft is the fourth type of consumer fraud and also the most common type of fraud. It involves the fraudster misusing someone else’s Social Security number, credit card number, name or any personal information of any kind, in order to perpetrate fraud and other felonies. About 9 million Americans get their identities stolen each and every year. The final type of consumer fraud is called phishing, which is when fraudsters utilize the Internet for pop-up messages or e-mails to steal a person’s financial or personal information.

Fraud Protection Tips

Consumers are not entirely defenseless when it comes to fraudsters scamming them. They should be wary of paying for products or services before they have actually seen them or in advance. If consumers want to go ahead and pay for something in advance, they are advised to use their credit card as a safety measure because credit card companies can do something called a chargeback against the merchant who processed the questionable charge. Another consumer fraud protection tip relates to charities, specifically charities that use the telephone to claim they are representing a good cause. To guard themselves against consumer fraud, a potential victim can instead demand of so-called charities to first send them an informational package.

Fraud Agencies

If people have been the victim of frauds, they may have a recourse through fraud agencies. Some fraud agencies are empowered by federal law to enforce certain laws that pertain to certain kinds of fraud. For example, there are federal fraud agencies whose purpose it is to enforce federal law with regards to ATM, credit card and debit card transactions. These are fraud agencies such as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If people have proof that they have been the victim of a consumer fraud, then they should contact a fraud agency with as much information as possible to stop the consumer fraud from continuing.

How to File a Complaint

Filing a consumer fraud complaint is easier these days than it has ever been, largely thanks to the Internet and various websites. Filing a consumer fraud complaint usually involves nothing more than going to the website of the fraud agency that handles investigations of consumer fraud and finding the right online form to fill out. Consumer fraud complaint forms can be filled out online and then also submitted online, or they may be downloaded from the website, manually filled out, and then sent in the mail with any additional evidence to the right consumer protection agency. The inclusion of one’s complete personal information—an address, full name and contact information—is always required on such complaint forms.

Consumer fraud is a horrible feeling if a person is victimized by it. It is a type of crime that is insidious and really preys upon unsuspecting people who, at first, may not even realize that they have been victimized. Consumer fraud can get a person in any number of ways, which is why it is such an terrible type of crime. A number of fraud agencies have been established to help people recover from consumer fraud if they have been victimized.