Fraud committed by email or elsewhere on the Internet is often referred to as “cybercrime”. Some common types of cybercrime include hacking and phishing to illegally obtain computer data or financial information. Using email in a system to commit fraud is often tracked as a wire transfer scam, as in the case of work-from-home fraud or other popular systems. Forms of cybercrime that are not prosecuted as wire fraud can be prosecuted under federal or state law. However, you may also be guilty of wire fraud because you caused the wire transfer used as part of a fraudulent scheme when that wire transfer was a foreseeable part of the business. For example, if you wrote in an email to potential investors that your product is “50% more effective than the competitor” to get their financial support without factual evidence to support this claim, you could be guilty of wire fraud for showing “reckless indifference” to the truth, regardless of the fact that you didn`t necessarily lie either. Electronic fraud is a federal crime being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Electronic fraud occurs when a person uses cable, radio or television communications to defraud others. This can include sending false information to receive money or property, or sending threats to harm another person. Electronic fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and can result in a fine of up to $250,000. In 2018, genuine Nigerian nationals, Olayinka Olaniyi and Damilola Solomon Ibiwoye, were convicted in federal court of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. They launched a phishing program that tricked employees at several U.S.

universities into sharing their computer logins and passwords. Congress enacted the first Postal Fraud Act in 1872 as part of a revision of federal postal laws. In McNally v. In the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that it applied to any act “intended to cheat by representations of the past or present, or suggestions and promises concerning the future.” In 1952, Congress enacted the Electronic Fraud Act to extend the prohibition of mail fraud to new communication technologies. Courts have generally held that wire fraud is identical to mail fraud under federal law, except for the means of communication used. See United States v. Frey, 42 F.3d 795 (3d Cir. 1994). In addition, you could be guilty of wire transfer fraud without succeeding in defrauding anyone. All that needs to be proven is that you intended to deceive someone by using cable transmission. Below are more detailed descriptions of each of these elements and the role they play in proving that a defendant is guilty of fraud.

Electronic fraud is a serious federal offense, and if convicted, you could face stiff penalties. If you have been charged with wire transfer fraud, you should contact a lawyer as soon as possible. As a seasoned criminal defense attorney with over 30 years of experience representing clients in the Los Angeles area, I have the skills and knowledge to build the best possible defense for you based on the details of your case. As your legal representative, I will guide you through the criminal process and vigorously defend your rights. Don`t wait, contact my company today to arrange a consultation. There are additional sentences of 30 years in prison and a fine of millions of dollars if the transfer fraud is related to a disaster declared by the president or a financial institution is involved. If it cannot be proven that you acted knowingly or with the specific intent to defraud someone else, you cannot be convicted of electronic fraud. Participation in an electronic fraud scheme alone is not enough to obtain a conviction, you must have known and participated in the program in order to fraudulently obtain monetary valuables from someone else. Section 941.18 U.S.C. 1343 of the U.S.

Department of Justice`s Criminal Resources Manual lists these elements as the key elements of electronic fraud: “(1) the defendant wilfully and intentionally developed or participated in a plan to defraud another person for money; (2) that the defendant did so with intent to deceive; (3) it was reasonably foreseeable that wireline intergovernmental communications would be used; and (4) that interstate wireline links were actually used. Often, a case of fraud is based on the communication of false or misleading statements. However, if you provided false information that you believed to be true, you cannot be convicted of knowingly and intentionally submitting false information for the purpose of cheating. For example, if you send an email to potential investors stating that the weight loss pill you are selling has a 90% success rate that you believe to be true based on the information you received, but it turns out that the pill only has a 30% success rate. You did not intentionally communicate false information, but rather had false facts. Different federal district courts have developed different lists of things prosecutors must prove in order to get a conviction for wire fraud, but they are all essentially similar. A prosecutor must prove all of the following beyond a doubt: “Puffery” is the use of exaggerated or stubborn statements used by sellers to make a sale. Examples of Puffery could include statements such as, “Our weight loss pill is the best on the market!” It is unlikely that a seller who makes such a statement by telephone, email, television or other forms of wireline communication would be guilty of electronic fraud, as consumers are likely to understand the declaration as a buffering and will not rely on this information to make an informed purchase.

A common example of wire transfer fraud is the Nigerian prince scam. In this scam, the scammer sends an email pretending to be a Nigerian prince who relies on his fortune in some way, is usually in exile and cannot access the assets of his Nigerian bank account. He claims to need the target to keep his millions to himself and promises to give the target a handsome sum in return. The purpose of the scam is to obtain the financial information of the target that the scammer uses to access the target`s money. Individuals convicted of wire fraud under federal law face the following penalties: The Department of Justice`s Wire Fraud Statute (18 U.S.C. 1343) cites these four elements of electronic fraud: This article explains the crime of electronic fraud and provides examples of this crime at the federal and state levels. These scammers used another fraudulent scheme to complete the theft: a romance scam. They used dating sites and apps to attract trusted love interests. At one point, they asked the new partner if they could transfer money to their bank account to keep it. They then transferred the money from universities to these US accounts before transferring it to their own accounts in Malaysia and other countries. In June 2021, a man was charged with conspiracy by the federal government to commit wire fraud for his role in a program to fraudulently obtain federal student aid. The defendant allegedly recruited foreign nationals and at least one co-conspirator to create fake school documents and submit courses using student usernames and passwords.

The students` identifying information was allegedly stolen or voluntarily turned over to the accused.