Crimes or torts involving deception for financial or other gain.
Questions tagged [fraud]
404 questions
31
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In the US, is it legal to lie to a business such as a hotel to obtain a discount?
Let's say a hotel chain or a restaurant provides a 50% discount to anyone aged over 70. Would it be legal (as in, no criminal charges could arise from that action) for a patron to lie to the hotel/restaurant about their age to get the…
JonathanReez
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Why is Trump's alleged fraud in New York not prosecuted as a criminal offense?
The New York Attorney General has filed a civil "complaint" against Donald Trump as well as some family members and companies. The allegations are centering around fraud by inflating property values in financial statements provided to banks and…
Peter - Reinstate Monica
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28
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Why wasn't the attorney general's fraud lawsuit against Trump thrown out for lack of standing?
Often I read about civil court cases that get thrown out because the person(s) filing the case had no direct involvement or were not affected in the case. The judges in these cases often note that the correct parties need to file the suit in order…
rtaft
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26
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How do free-speech protections in the United States apply in public to corporate misrepresentations?
Last night, I was driving behind a truck that had a very official-looking sign like this:
(Sign says, "WARNING STAY BACK 200 FT. NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BROKEN WINDSHIELDS!")
Some cursory Googling brought me to this page from an attorney (who is…
Bruce Kirkpatrick
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25
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Can hotel booking companies make up any "original price" they want, or does the claimed original price have to be somehow grounded in reality?
I was booking a hotel room via Agoda in the United States and saw that the claimed original price was much higher than the hotel price rate if booked at the hotel front desk or using the official hotel's website. I assume that Agoda is trying to…
Franck Dernoncourt
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24
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I am 16. Can my parents legally transfer my money I have earned from my own job to their account and take it?
I am a 16 year old, who got their first job at 14ish, and ever since have had my own debit card with my own name on it, and all the money I have earned from work, gifts, etc. have been on there. I have direct deposit pay checks, and I save most of…
M e l
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23
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Is Intentional Bankruptcy Illegal?
This is a completely hypothetical scenario and so I'm happy for answers for any jurisdiction, however I'm based in the UK and so some of my terminology may be specific to there.
What is the legality of establishing a limited company, paying myself…
Luke
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23
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5 answers
What might be illegal about a company using deceptive phone calls to establish a contract and seeking payments under it?
I have recently been encountering an organisation whose mode of operation is to dupe members of venue staff into "agreeing" to have their venue advertised "online". Subsequently a bill arrives for this service.
The initial conversation typically…
Rodney
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22
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2 answers
Could the GoDaddy employee self-phishing test constitute a breach of contract?
Recently, GoDaddy executed a self-phishing test against its own employees. The message that employees received said that they could claim their holiday bonus by submitting their contact details on some website:
From: Happyholiday@Godaddy.com
Date:…
200_success
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1 answer
Is lying to get "gardening leave" fraud?
A group of my friends was celebrating one of our group securing a new job, and he was complaining about having to continue working at his old job for his 3 month notice period, we started discussing humorous ways that he could force his company to…
Ben
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22
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If someone falsely claims to have a Ph.D. on the jacket of a book and they profit from that claim, is that criminal fraud?
Say someone had started a Ph.D. but failed to complete, and wrote a book presenting themselves as an expert in their field, and claimed on the jacket to have a Ph.D.
The book sells many copies, and helps establish them as an expert in their field,…
AnonymousAcademic444
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21
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4 answers
If it can be proven that someone profiting from spreading conspiracy theories doesn't believe in them are they guilty of fraud?
There are a number of people and websites that make money by spreading conspiracy theories and other 'fake news'. I think InfoWars is probably the most notorious, but it's only one of a multitude of similar sites and people out there.
Let's say for…
dsollen
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21
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2 answers
My Boss wants me to correct checks paid to us
I work for a county government. We process over 16,000 checks over about 2 months. I have an issue with some things we do. If someone writes a check out wrong, for example if he doesn't put the correct change in either the box or Written Out, we…
Kemarie21
20
votes
2 answers
"One-time discount" fraud: is any crime committed?
A retailer offers a one time discount to new customers. The T&C clearly state that the discount is limited to one time per household.
However, Bob discovers that in practice he can just create new accounts on the retailer's website, and claim the…
user987987013
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Why is trying to get "vaccinated" into a fake arm considered fraud (in Italy)?
I'm curious under what legal provisions this bizarre story falls under in Italy.
An Italian man is facing charges of fraud after turning up for his Covid-19 vaccine wearing a fake arm. [...]
After completing the bureaucratic formalities, including…
Looking for loopholes
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