Victims of Fraud

Fraud is a terrible crime that causes great harm to victims. Fraud is generally defined as any deception practiced to cause one to surrender something of value or legal right. More clearly stated fraud is the act of deceiving a person by promising goods, services, of future financial benefits that do not exist or were never going to be provided (Barnett, 1999). Every year millions of Americans are injured by fraudulent schemes and the numbers are steadily increasing (Federal Trade Commission, 2003). The victims of fraud are not only harmed financially, but emotionally. Acknowledging fraud as a potentially harmful and traumatizing event allows us to address other problems related to fraud. For example; recognizing the fact that fraud has victims allows us to examine how to better deal with current problems surrounding fraud. Problems surrounding fraud also deal with victims not reporting the incident, better treatment of victims who do seek help, the ability to offer proper types of help and how to better combat the issue of fraud itself. Various types of fraud exist. Some types of fraud are better known than others and new variations and schemes appear all the time. The possible combinations are endless and limited only by a person's destructive creativity (Department Of Justice, 2001). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (2003) provides that the most frequent offenses for the year 2002 were identity theft and internet auctions. FTC (2003) also shows that other computer related fraudulent activities are on the rise. Below in Figure 1 are some of the more common types of fraudulent activities and scams [though no elaboration on the various types because it is irrelevant, the paper focus is the victims of fraud].

Figure 1
Bogus Vacation OpportunitiesFly-by-night Home Repairs
Securities Fraud Advanced Fee Schemes
Mail FraudComputer Fraud
Health Care FraudInsurance Fraud
Pension & Trust Fund FraudCheck/Credit Card fraud
Charity FraudTelemarketing Fraud
Identity TheftLand/Property Schemes
EmbezzlementCommodities/ Investment Fraud