A Brief Introduction to Criminal Fraud
Long gone are the days of being incredibly trusting with our personal information, finances, or other key aspects of our lives. Unfortunately, fraud has become so much more prevalent in today’s technology and social media-driven society that we now have to safeguard ourselves from people who might want to do us harm.
What are the most common types of criminal fraud to be aware of, and who is usually targeted during these activities?
Tax Fraud
Making a mistake on your tax return doesn’t constitute fraud, but when individuals willfully miscalculate information for themselves and others, it’s fraudulent behavior. This type of criminal fraud is most commonly seen when tax preparers and CPAs complete returns on a client’s behalf. Not only do they have the opportunity to under-represent someone’s income to the IRS, but they are in a prime position to skim money off the top for themselves as well.
Insurance Fraud
This is a very common form of fraudulent behavior, and can happen in a number of different settings. From the person who fakes an injury just to file a claim to the doctor who over bills his patients for procedures, to a person who burns down their home for the claim, insurance fraud can look a lot of different ways.
Many times individuals will try to over-exaggerate their injuries on a claim to get the maximum amount of benefit, or might claim that another vehicle damaged their car when in fact they themselves were careless. The scenarios go on and on, but it’s important to realize that anyone can be susceptible to this kind of behavior.
Identity Theft
Stealing someone’s identity is so commonplace now that companies make millions off of selling products to protect your personal information. When it comes to identity theft, people usually steal social security numbers or credit card information, and then attempt to access your money. Sometimes people take it too far and actually apply for jobs in your name.
Cases of identity theft have been seen where individuals have passed on many years ago, yet someone is living their life with their same name and identifying information. Others are victims when their mail is stolen and their information is taken advantage of. Unfortunately, no one is safe from this kind of criminal fraud, so your best bet is to safeguard your information and only share it with people you trust.
These are only just a few of the many types of fraud that Inkelaar Law can help with. If you have been taken advantage of and need legal help to prove someone’s fraudulent behavior, give us a call today.