That article is a scam. Severe punishment now threatens those who deceive the bank when applying for a loan

How to prove the fact of committing fraud, in which article criminal liability is provided for it

In order to understand whether the discussed crime was committed, it is necessary to consider in detail the corpus delicti established for fraud. Theft, for the commission of which the victim was deceived or his trust was abused, can be qualified as fraud only in the following cases:

There is a victim who, due to deceit, gave away his property.
The perpetrator acted intentionally; he understood why he was deceiving the victim, and wanted to take possession of his property.
The means of committing a crime can only be deceit or breach of trust. There is no mention of any violence or threats.
A criminal can seize both property and rights to it.

What punishment can expect a criminal, says Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. But this is not the only rule that applies to fraudulent activities - the Criminal Code contains 5 more rules with a similar composition (Articles 159.1-159.3, Articles 159.5 and 159.6).

Fraud on an especially large scale and on a large scale - this is how much in monetary terms

Theft may involve property of varying value, and depending on the amount of damage caused, the offender is subject to a different severity of punishment. There is the following gradation of damage:

significant for a citizen - more than 5,000 rubles;
significant for an individual entrepreneur or organization in the case of fraud related to non-fulfillment of contractual obligations - more than 10,000 rubles;
large - more than 250,000 rubles;
especially large - more than 1,000,000 rubles;
large and especially large for an individual entrepreneur or organization in the case of fraud related to non-fulfillment of contractual obligations - more than 3,000,000 and 12,000,000 rubles, respectively.

To understand what kind of damage was caused, you need to find out the value of the stolen property.

For information on what to do if you have become a victim of scammers and how to write a statement to the police, read the articles "Where to contact about Internet fraud" and "How and where to file a fraud report correctly (sample)".

Don't know your rights?

Types of punishment in article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for fraud

Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has 7 parts, each of which describes the types of punishment for fraud, which has its own characteristics. The most loyal punishment is provided for ordinary fraud, but with an increase in the amount of losses, the sanctions become stricter.

So, for unskilled fraud, that is, for an act falling under Part 1 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code, the punishment varies from a fine, the maximum amount of which is 120,000 rubles, to 2 years in prison. For group fraud (part 2 of article 159 of the Criminal Code), the punishment is somewhat stricter - from a fine (maximum - 300,000 rubles) to 5 years in prison. The same part of the norm also qualifies fraud involving the infliction of significant damage to the victim.

Fraudsters who used their official position for criminal purposes, as well as those whose actions caused major damage (part 3 of article 159 of the Criminal Code), are punished with at least a fine (from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles), and at the maximum they are deprived of their liberty for 6 years. For fraud in an organized group or causing damage on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code), uncontested imprisonment will follow - up to 10 years.

In hours 5-7, Art. 159 of the Criminal Code deals with the so-called economic elements of fraud, that is, those associated with the intentional failure of the perpetrator to fulfill obligations under contracts, the parties to which are individual entrepreneurs or commercial enterprises. The punishment here varies from 100,000 rubles fine to 10 years in prison.

Persons accused of fraud use various forms of deception, and there can be a long period between the illegal actions themselves and the transfer of property. Therefore, when qualifying a crime, it is necessary to refer not only to the norms of criminal law, but also to generalized judicial practice in this area.

According to the statistics of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, more than 25,000 convictions are issued each year for committing fraud. These include all fraudulent activities, including petty fraud charges.

Penalty for petty fraud

According to legal norms, damage in the amount of no more than 1.5 million rubles is classified as a petty type of fraud.

Punishment depends, as a rule, on some factors, including extenuating circumstances, such as primary or repeated prosecution for a given offense.

The verdict is issued by the judicial authority, which may contain the following:

imposition of a fine;
compulsory work for up to 480 hours;
appointment of correctional labor for up to 2 years;
restriction of freedom for a period of up to 1 year or without it with the simultaneous involvement of forced labor for a period of up to 5 years;
imprisonment of the offender for up to five years with or without a limitation of up to 1 year.

Important! Under current legislation, for committing petty fraud in the field of entrepreneurship, the guilty person is sentenced by the court to imprisonment for up to one year.

The fine for committing petty fraud is set at up to 500 thousand rubles. The size depends on the severity of the act.

New schemes

The development of modern technologies enables fraudsters to master new forms of fraud that have gained momentum not only in our country, but throughout the world, despite the cybersecurity measures taken.

The tools by which fraudulent actions are carried out include:

Internet. It is used in connection with the reduction to zero of the possibility of catching offenders committing virtual acts.
cellular. It is less widespread. Despite the fact that SIM cards are sold according to their passport.

The most popular methods of small-scale fraud on the Internet include raising funds for the treatment of a seriously ill child or adult. Some of the scammers offer to invest money in a joint business, which supposedly will bring high income.

No less popular is fraud on the Internet, when crooks act on behalf of certain companies, offering to buy their shares at an attractive price. Then they disappear without a trace in the vastness of the network after receiving the money. Mobile communication can also be frustrating with the loss of money. For example, a scammer inclines to replenish his cellular account, indicating some reason:

make an advance payment for any service;
taking part in the promotion, for this he asks to send him a replenishment code;
etc.

Many scammers offer the services of astrologers, palmists, fortune tellers, and healers. They skillfully use the desires of people to get away from life's problems, family troubles and all kinds of diseases. In fact, fraud in this area cannot be substantiated by the norms of criminal law. At the same time, this type of scam is common both in a real meeting with a deceiver and on the Internet.

What you need to pay attention to

Fraudsters often have higher education, they are the elite of the underworld. As a rule, they have high intelligence, good knowledge in human psychology. Most of them are able to easily make contact with people, quickly win their favor.

Often, scammers are excellent specialists in certain areas of activity, for example, information technology.

In their fraudulent activities, they often use psychological techniques, such as:

making proposals for the implementation of a certain transaction on requirements that differ from simple transactions by a significant benefit;
compelling a person to do something;
creating a certain opinion among citizens about themselves, for example, the image of a rich, prosperous person.

In everyday life, you can meet swindlers with pronounced traits of an intellectual with well-mannered manners, attracting him with a pleasant voice, as well as unhurried speech. They can convince anyone in a short period of time of anything.

Taking into account the above, you need to be vigilant and careful, rely on intuition, have some ingenuity so as not to fall for their tricks.

ATTENTION! Due to recent changes in legislation, the information in the article could be outdated! Our lawyer will advise you free of charge - write in the form below.

Fraud is no exception. What is the responsibility for this act? For how long can swindlers be imprisoned - we will tell further.

What is considered fraud?

Criminal law defines fraud as the misappropriation of another person's property or money. It is done through deceit or abuse of the victim's trust.

Despite the fact that scammers do not use physical force or threats against the victim, as a result of their tricks, he himself transfers his things or money.

Fraud is committed without physical or psychological abuse of the victim.

What article threatens for fraud?

This act is covered by Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In order for a crime to be qualified as fraud, it is required to prove that it was committed precisely by deception or abuse of the victim's trust.

If a person did not have the intent to "fool" - there is no corpus delicti under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

To be convicted of fraud, you need to have intent to deceive.

The fraudulent actions of scammers can be expressed in:

Giving deliberately false information

For example, if the seller claims that he sells Dolce Gabbana jeans, but in fact they are made near Uryupinsk.

Concealment of facts that play a key role in the transaction.

For example, if you were not told that the iPhone you bought is a Chinese fake, not the original.

A scammer may give you false information or delicately keep silent about important nuances in a transaction.

A breach of trust implies a situation where, due to a good relationship with a swindler, the victim voluntarily gives him his belongings or money. The victim does not even suspect about the "divorce".

The fraudster creates such a psychological environment in which the victim agrees to transfer his property to him or to third parties, being confident in the legal nature of the transaction.

Liability for Fraud

Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is not the only article that punishes swindlers.

The legislator has provided for several more special elements of this crime:

Art. 159.1- establishes responsibility for scams in the field of lending to private citizens and legal entities;
Art. 159.2- determines the punishment for fraud in the field of receiving social or other similar payments and benefits;
Art. 159.3- imposes sanctions for credit card fraud;
Art. 159.5- unscrupulous employees of insurance companies are punished under this article;
Art. 159.6- it can attract computer hackers.

But a swindler can avoid criminal prosecution, but only under certain circumstances.

For fraud, not only criminal, but also administrative liability is provided.

Administrative responsibility

If a swindler defrauded you of money in the amount of less than 2.5 thousand rubles, then this is an administrative offense. At the same time, his actions should not contain additional qualifying features, for example, as part of a group of persons. If these signs are present, the attacker will receive criminal punishment.

Criminal liability

It can be initiated even if the victim did not personally apply to law enforcement agencies.

Criminal case under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is initiated regardless of the desire of the victim.

Any capable attacker who has reached the age of 16 can be recognized as a fraudster.

The crime is considered completed at the moment when the swindler took possession of someone else's property or money and got the opportunity to use them at his own discretion.

The method of acquiring rights to someone else's good has no legal significance. The offender could use forged documents, resort to the help of third parties, create a special psychological environment for the victim, etc. All the same, he will be prosecuted.

Fraud is committed with direct intent, as deception or breach of trust does not occur through negligence.

Punishment for fraud

Fraud is punishable under seven different articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, each of which includes an independent list of sanctions.

The offender is subject to the following penalties:

a large fine (from 120 thousand to 1 million rubles);
compulsory, forced or corrective labor for different periods;
arrest or restriction of freedom;
imprisonment.

The minimum possible term of imprisonment for fraud under Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is 2 years.

The most severe sanction awaits the criminal who has committed a scam on an especially large scale. He faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

If you embezzled several million rubles, you will sit down for a long time.

When choosing a measure of punishment, the court in each case will take into account the presence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

Aggravating signs are:

preliminary ;
participation in an organized gang;
use of his official position;
deprivation of a citizen of his right to housing;
original intent to fail to fulfill their contractual obligations;
significant, large or especially large damage.

In case of fraud, damage from 10 thousand rubles is considered significant, damage from 3 million rubles is large, and damage from 12 million rubles is especially large.

Be vigilant, and you can protect yourself from the machinations of scammers.

If you want money to generate income, you have to make it work. And for this you need to direct your savings in some profitable direction. For example, invest in a promising project. However, before that, it is important to make sure the reality of this project. The probability of being deceived by scammers in this area is quite high. To protect yourself and your savings from all sorts of encroachments, you should know the enemy in person, namely: what are the forms and types of fraud.

According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, fraud is a crime that involves the misappropriation of another's property or rights to it through deceit or breach of trust.

Expert opinion

Roman Efremov

Deception is possible in relation to the identity of the attacker, his official powers, social status and profession. The most striking example is when a fraudster introduces himself as a police officer, receives a reward for promising to alleviate the conditions of the person held accountable.
Regarding the abuse of trust, the attacker uses public relations that have developed on the basis of the trust of the parties. Often, fraudsters prefer to use a scheme in which they receive money and other material resources from the victims under the condition of fulfilling certain obligations. At the same time, they are often initially unfeasible.

Many tend to think that fraud is not at least some serious crime, and is designed for all sorts of simpletons who almost voluntarily part with their property. However, fraud is fully equated with theft and is severely punished.

Forensic scientists have established that Russia is one of the countries with booming fraud. This type of criminal activity is very widespread, has many different schemes and continues to grow comprehensively. Sadly, we have such a phenomenon has long become widespread.

What is considered a scam

What is the definition of "fraud"? In the aforementioned Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, fraud is one of the options for theft of property. The first note to article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation stipulates that theft is an act of mercenary, gratuitous and unlawful seizure of someone else's property (or rights to it), causing damage to the owner. At this point, the fact that there is no payment for property that has passed to another person is important.

What is considered cheating and breach of trust? Deception means:

Communication to this or that person of knowingly false information that does not correspond to reality;

Hiding the truth as such;

Forgery of information or the issuance of a fake item for real value;

Other actions that mislead people.

Abuse of trust most often manifests itself in the form of using the trust of another person for personal gain. Trust may be due to family or friendship ties, the official status of the attacker, and the dependent status of the victim. This area also includes situations in which a fraudster receives money as an advance payment for services that he allegedly intends to perform. Also, money can be received for a non-existent product, the issuance of which allegedly follows immediately after payment.

Legally, fraud cannot be defined as unlawful acts involving deceit or breach of trust in relation to any person, but NOT entailing the detrimental theft of property. Cases where someone else's property, obtained by fraudulent means, is subsequently held by force, is also not considered an act of fraud. For example, an attacker asks a passerby for a mobile phone to make a vital call and, having received what he wants, immediately hides with the prey. The Criminal Code regards this as a robbery. Finally, when property falls into the hands of an attacker through threats against the owner, this is not fraud, but extortion.

The act of fraud is considered completed when the attacker, who has taken possession of someone else's property, can safely begin to dispose of it.

Expert opinion

Roman Efremov

Work experience: 5 years. Specialization: all areas of jurisprudence.

According to the definition given in Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, fraud is one of the forms of theft. The main feature of the crime is that the victim voluntarily transfers material value or rights to its possession to the attacker, being misled.

The object of a criminal act is property relations, the subject is someone else's property or rights to it.

The subjective side of the crime is manifested in the form of guilt, which is accompanied by the presence of direct intent and selfish purpose. Crimes of this category cannot qualify for mitigation of liability, since initially the legislator determines that fraud is necessarily accompanied by intent.

The subject of criminal intent is an individual who has reached the age of 16, who does not have any restrictions in legal capacity due to mental disorders.

Analyzing fraud as a separate type of criminal act, taking into account the concept and signs of a crime, one can distinguish specific qualification features. The accusation of fraud is accompanied by a lengthy trial, attributing a specific act to the disposition of one of the parts of the key article for fraud:

part 1. It includes criminal operations affecting the financial sector. For example, a fraudster provided false information to employees of banking or credit institutions in order to obtain a loan;
part 2. Responsibility arises in relation to persons convicted of fraud in the registration and receipt of social benefits. It also includes crimes committed by an organized group by prior agreement;
part 3. The attacker uses his official position, public status, or fraud is accompanied by significant losses for the victim (large amount);
part 4. The criminal act was committed by an organized group, the level of losses is positioned as especially large (over 1 million rubles). Also in this area, liability is established for fraud with expensive property - real estate, luxury goods, antiques. Articles made of precious metals;
part 5. This implies the conclusion of civil law contracts, the subsequent failure to fulfill the terms of the agreement, which entails serious damage on the part of the injured person;
part 6. Similar to part 5, but this category includes cases in which a large loss of damage is recorded;
part 7. Responsibility for violations of civil law relations that have caused especially large material losses is determined.

Liability for Fraud

1. In accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the following penalties may be applied to a person convicted of fraud:

A fine in the amount of up to 120 thousand rubles or in the amount of up to 12 wages of the convicted person;

Forced labor for up to 180 thousand hours;

Correctional labor for up to 1 year;

Arrest for up to 4 months;

Imprisonment for up to 2 years.

2. For a group of persons who have committed fraud by prior agreement or in cases where the damage to the owner has reached a significant amount, the following measures may be put in place:

A fine in the amount of up to 300 thousand rubles or in the amount of up to 24 wages of the convicted person;

Compulsory work for a period of 180 to 240 thousand hours;

Correctional labor for up to 2 years;

Imprisonment for up to 5 years.

3. Fraud on a large scale or committed when using an official position for personal gain may be punished in the following ways:

A fine in the amount of 100-500 thousand rubles or 12-36 salaries of the convicted person;

Imprisonment for up to 6 years without penalties or with a fine of up to 10 thousand rubles (or 1 salary of the convicted person).

4. Fraud committed by an organized group or fraud on an especially large scale is stopped by imprisonment for up to 10 years without penalties or with a fine of up to 1 million rubles (or 36 wages of the convicted person).

Who are the scammers and who are their victims

As a rule, the appearance of a fraudster is not repulsive. In this case, the attacker's appearance and manner of communication are his main tools to win over the victim and "rub" her into confidence. Often, attackers play on base human feelings, such as lust for profit, greed, and even on the desire of the victim to deceive someone else. Often scammers exploit kindness, the desire to help others and other moral values. Such a wide range of feelings and qualities suggests that absolutely no one is immune from fraudulent actions against them.

Expert opinion

Roman Efremov

Work experience: 5 years. Specialization: all areas of jurisprudence.

Despite the variety of fraudulent schemes, they all have several common features:

attackers use psychological methods to influence potential victims;
the victim is not aware of the true causes of the attacker's behavioral model;
the victim transfers the criminal's property resources on a voluntary basis, without being subjected to conscious coercion;
fraudsters rarely use sophisticated technical devices;
on the part of others towards the criminal an ambiguous attitude;
when committing fraud, “front men”, that is, persons who allegedly happened to be at the crime scene, are actively used;
fraud is often carried out by groups of people. In the group, each member has a specific function and responsibility.

In the past, scammers were considered to be among the criminal elite, as they were mostly very smart, educated and well-versed in psychology people. At the present time, in conditions of free access to mobile communications and the Internet, fraudsters do not even have to be good actors - they just need to be able to convincingly express their thoughts (and even then not always).

There are legends about the resourcefulness and ingenuity of scammers. They constantly come up with new ways to take money from the population or improve old ones as soon as they stop generating income. Attackers quickly adapt to the situation in the world, developing new schemes of deception.

There is no need to look far for examples: the modern sphere of communications is thoroughly affected by fraud: not everyone can safely ignore a request to transfer a small amount of money for the treatment of a sick child or ignore SMS from a supposedly close person who needs money. These types of deception are attractive primarily because they do not imply real contact between the victim and the attacker. Everything happens remotely, which reduces the risk of exposure. In addition, the victim will not be able to return the money back. These forms of scams operate uninterrupted year after year, spreading widely in all areas.

Also, in addition to high-tech methods of fraud, there are also traditional ones: thimble-mongers, fortune-tellers and card cheats are in no hurry to give up their positions and, no matter how strange it may seem, they still have their own stable profit.

Types of fraud - article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Classic scam

Traditional types of fraud are considered by the first part of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as an act of fraudulent appropriation of another's property without special aggravating circumstances. This definition includes cases in which the attacker provides false information about himself in order to force the victim to give him valuable things or money. This type of scam can be backed by a contract. This may include borrowing a certain amount of money with the promise of returning it after a certain period, while the attacker does not plan to return anything at all.

Qualified Fraud

This definition includes crimes committed using official authority or as part of a professional group of malefactors. As a rule, the damage to the victim in this case is many times greater than in the case of classical fraud. This variety is characterized by aggravating signs and, accordingly, more severe penalties.

Contract Fraud

This group of crimes is based on the conclusion of various kinds of civil or legal transactions between the fraudster and the victim. For example, an attacker under a contract undertakes to transfer to his victim some property that he does not actually possess. The victim, in turn, without realizing it, parted with his money and received nothing in return.

Contractual conclusions are drawn up, as a rule, when buying or selling some especially valuable property: transport, real estate, etc. Most often, such crimes are assessed as fraud on an especially large scale. This form of profit is often resorted to by groups of intruders, whose victims are individuals, as well as organizations and enterprises. Such deception can have a multi-level structure and include the false services of dishonest lawyers who help the victim to “legally” enter into an agreement and transfer money to the attackers.

Extra-contractual fraud

This is the most widespread and multi-variant type of fraud. Examples include a request to put money on an attacker's phone under the guise of a close relative in trouble, or forcing money to be given to a false healer as payment for removing the "evil eye" or "damage". Such transactions are sometimes difficult to prove and most often remain undisclosed. Moreover, the victims themselves are in no hurry to report the fact of fraud to law enforcement agencies, especially if a not so significant amount of money was lost. These conditions allow fraudsters to enjoy impunity and further develop their activities.

Popular scams

1. Electronic Fraud

A large proportion of all sent SMS, emails and other messages contains deliberately false information aimed at extorting money. Such messages contain offers to participate in dubious promotions, financial pyramids with instant enrichment, or requests to donate money for someone's treatment, participate in charity, learn about a unique earning system, and the like.

About paid mailings. Everyone is familiar with the situation when, in order to opt out of annoying ads, it is required to call or send an SMS to a supposedly free number, but as a result, the victim only subscribes to paid mailing lists, for which some amounts of money will be regularly or at a time debited from the account.

Virus attack on a computer or mobile device. This sub-clause of electronic fraud can be regarded as theft if there is no deception as such, but only the removal of the user's confidential information. In the case of fraud, malware will be installed on the victim's computer, forcing the user to send money to attackers under one pretext or another. For example, when the system starts up, a message will appear on the screen about blocking the entrance to Windows. At the same time, the text will appear on the screen, allegedly written on behalf of government services that have detected pirated programs on this computer. To resume access, the victim will need to send a certain amount to the details specified in the text. In the case of sending money, access will not open - the services of a specialist or the skills of an advanced user will help here.

A separate link is messages on a mobile phone containing requests for financial assistance on behalf of relatives, about winning a prize draw, or about an erroneous transfer of a certain amount of money to your mobile account. Whatever the message, the goal remains the same - replenishment of the attacker's account.

How to protect yourself from such encroachments? You need to be vigilant and not take a word. Ignore promises of instant enrichment - they do not exist, just the financial pyramids that existed in the past (like MMM) have moved from the real world to the Internet. Such organizations are engaged in fraud on an especially large scale, since the amounts rotated there are very substantial. When concluding a contract with such a company, you will automatically become its debtor. We wrote separate analytical articles about the pyramids - “” and ““.

If you want to donate funds for the treatment of a child, then first make inquiries and specify the details. In real conditions, this is easy to find out. As for requests for help from loved ones, try to contact them by phone and ask.

A good antivirus program will help protect your computer or mobile device. This guarantees you security from viruses, and also prevents attempts of unauthorized mailings or calls from your device.

2. "Scams": thimbles, street lotteries and more

An old, known to everyone almost since childhood, but still an effective area of fraud. Those wishing to take part in street actions and games are stable. The scheme for attracting the masses is extremely simple: in front of potential victims, a random passer-by (but in fact an accomplice of scammers) wins a substantial amount of money. Such a demonstration will not leave indifferent all gamblers and lovers of "free cheese". At first, the victim may even win a little in order to be more involved in the process and eventually lose big.

3. Card games

Experienced card cheaters with high skill in their field successfully practice their skills in trains, stations, hotels and other places with high traffic. Their activity is focused primarily on gamblers and those who believe in luck or just like to take risks. There are quite a few of these these days. The game will go in such a way that the victim will initially lead, but as a result, she will lose. The psychological make-up of some people makes them predisposed to gambling. Professional scammers are able to distinguish them in the crowd, and skillfully captivate them into their game.

4. Divination

Street gypsies, healers and fortune-tellers meet in crowded places and work both singly and in groups. Despite the external simplicity and ignorance, each of them is a subtle psychologist who knows how to calculate the most suitable victim for deception. Most of their victims are women and young people. Attackers find an approach to them, listen to all complaints, show sympathy and readiness to help in solving all problems and illnesses for a purely symbolic amount. Often they resort to suggestion or intimidation, motivated by the fact that if you do not help now, then it will be many times worse. Most often, they achieve multiple arrivals of victims for “healing” or “prediction” sessions. The result is the same - no money, no desired result.

For money to be profitable, it must work. What is the easiest way to make your savings bring you income? Invest in a successful project. But first you should assess the degree of risk and the likelihood of being deceived by various kinds of scammers. Therefore, it is important to know in advance what fraud is and what forms it exists. So, fraud of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (part 1 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) defines it as a type of crime consisting in the misappropriation of someone else's property or the seizure of rights to it, by breach of trust or deceit. There is an opinion that fraud is not something too serious: "well, a simpleton deceived, what's wrong." However, despite the fact that the victim himself, allegedly "of good will" parted with his property, the actions of the attacker that contribute to this are qualified as a crime (a type of theft) and are punished quite severely.

According to forensic scientists, Russia is one of the states where fraud is extremely widespread, has a variety of work schemes, as well as a tendency to increase the number of cases and the sophistication of forms. Unfortunately, in our country this phenomenon is massive.

What is considered fraud

What is considered fraud and what is not? As mentioned above, fraud in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is considered a type of theft (theft) of property. Theft, according to Note No. 1 to Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is a mercenary, illegal, gratuitous seizure of another's property or the appropriation of rights to it, causing damage to the owner. The fact that there is no payment for property that has passed to another person is important here.

What does breach of trust and deceit mean? Fraud is the communication of deliberately false, untrue information, concealment of the truth, falsification of information or, for example, the issuance of a fake for the original of something valuable, as well as any other misleading actions.

Remember: ignorance of the law does not exempt from liability for its violation!

Abuse of trust is the use of another person's trust for personal gain. Trust is due, for example, to kinship or friendship, as well as the official position of the fraudster and the dependent position of the victim. This also includes situations where the attacker receives money in the form of an advance payment for services that he does not intend to perform. Or for a product that was not going to be given to the buyer.

From a legal point of view, illegal actions against someone related to breach of trust or deceit, but without theft of property that causes damage to its owner, are not considered fraud. Situations where someone else's property, fraudulently obtained from its owner, is held by force are also not considered fraud. For example, an attacker asks for a phone to make an urgent call, but as soon as he gets it, he hides with it or refuses to return it. This qualifies as robbery. And, finally, if someone else's property passes into the hands of an attacker under the influence of threats or intimidation, this is extortion.

The moment of the end of fraud is the time when the person who illegally took possession of other people's property got the opportunity to dispose of it at his own discretion.

Liability for Fraud

1. According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, fraud (Article 159) is punishable by:

a fine of up to 120,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the convicted person for a period of up to 1 year;
forced labor - up to 180,000 hours;
correctional labor - up to 1 year;
arrest - up to 4 months;
imprisonment up to 2 years.

2. Fraud committed by a group of participants (preliminary conspiracy) or causing significant damage to the owner of the property is punishable:

a fine of up to 300,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the person subjected to punishment for a period of up to 2 years;
compulsory work - from 180,000 to 240,000 hours;
correctional labor - up to 2 years;
imprisonment up to 5 years.

3. Fraud committed by someone in the exercise of his official position, or fraud on a large scale, shall be punished:

a fine from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) subjected to punishment for a period of 1 to 3 years;
imprisonment up to 6 years with a fine of up to 10,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the convicted person for 1 month, or without a fine.

4. Fraud on an especially large scale or which was committed by an organized group is punishable by:

imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years with a fine of up to 1,000,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the person punished for a period of up to 3 years, or without a fine.

What are the scammer and his victim?

The appearance of a fraudster can hardly be repulsive; rather, it will be a disposing, pleasant person who knows how to "rub" into trust and play on human feelings. Often, attackers exploit base human qualities - greed, passion for easy money or the desire of the victim to deceive someone himself, although sometimes they play on kindness, love for one's neighbor, caring for the weak, and the like. Judging by this, practically no one is guaranteed that they will never be deceived.

Previously, scammers were considered the elite of the underworld, since they were people, as a rule, educated, smart, well versed in psychology. Now, with the availability of mobile communications and the Internet to the majority of the population, scammers even no longer need to be good actors.

The ingenuity and resourcefulness of fraud has no limits. As soon as one type of working scheme of deception becomes known to most people, a new form of it is invented or the developed one is modified, and again the money of naive citizens flowed into other people's pockets.

For example, the sphere of communications has long been saturated with fraud: not everyone will pass by a request to transfer some money to a sick child or call back a loved one, allegedly receiving an SMS from him stating that "a disaster has happened and money is urgently needed." This type of deception is attractive to unscrupulous citizens also because it is extremely difficult, and sometimes even impossible, for the victim to find out who the attacker is, because there was no personal contact, or even a conversation between them. Yes, and getting the money back is almost impossible. Therefore, these forms of fraud are widespread and have been operating for years.

In addition to modern high-tech forms of deception, the traditional ones - card cheating or thimble-biting - have not outlived their usefulness. And, oddly enough, they consistently bring income to their adherents.

Types of Fraud

Fraud simple or classic.

Classic fraud - article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 1, is considered as a type of misappropriation of another's property by deceit, committed without additional aggravating conditions. For example, these are cases when an attacker deliberately provides false information about himself in order to force the victim to give him, for example, money or a valuable thing. This kind of fraud can be based on a contract or without it. For example, borrowing a certain amount of money, promising to return it after some time, but not intending to do so.

Qualified Fraud

This type of crime includes fraud committed while using one's official position, or by a group of people - professional fraudsters. Usually, the damage to the victim in this case is more significant than with the classic form of fraud.

nichestvo. This type of crime is accompanied by aggravating signs, and the punishment for it is more serious.

Contract Fraud

Contractual fraud is accompanied by the conclusion of civil transactions between the fraudster and the victim. For example, the attacker, according to the contract, undertakes to transfer property to the victim, which he does not actually have. The victim, not knowing that the subject of the transaction does not exist, gives money to the fraudster and receives nothing in return.

Contractual conclusions are most often drawn up when buying and selling expensive property - houses, apartments, vehicles, and the like. This type of crime is often classified as fraud on an especially large scale. Often, such forms of profit are developed and put into practice by a group of malefactors, and both individuals and enterprises and organizations can become their victims. The scheme of such a deception can be multi-level, including the false services of dishonest lawyers who help the victim "according to the law" conclude contracts and give money to scammers.

Extra-contractual fraud

The most common, numerous and diverse type of fraud. Examples of such cases: a request to immediately transfer money to the phone number of a fraudster under the guise of a loved one who is in a difficult situation, forcing you to give money to a "healer" to remove "damage" and much more. Since such transactions are usually not always easy to prove, they often go undiscovered. And the victims themselves are in no hurry to make statements to law enforcement agencies, especially if the amount of stolen funds was not large. This allows fraudsters to go unpunished for a long time and develop new ways to take property from citizens.

Common scams

Electronic Fraud

Spam coming by e-mail, in the form of SMS messages to the phone and in other ways, usually contains a considerable amount of charlatan messages. In many of these letters, one can read offers to join various financial pyramids that promise instant enrichment, requests to send a certain amount for the treatment of a patient, make a contribution to various charitable foundations, learn many ways to make money quickly, and more.

Paid mailings. It happens that in order to refuse some imposed service, you need to make a call or send a message to a "free" number, as a result of which you will automatically be subscribed to some paid mailing lists, for which some amount will be constantly debited from your account. Or it will be removed once.

Infection of a computer or mobile gadget with malware. This can be classified as both fraud and theft. In case of fraud, the victim will be forced to personally transfer funds to the accounts of intruders, for example, for unlocking the Windows login. Example: a text is displayed on the screen, where on behalf of public services it is reported that pirated software has been found on your computer, with a requirement to pay a "fine". Naturally, scammers extort money in this way.

Calls or messages to mobile numbers that your relative is in a difficult situation, about winning prizes, about erroneously crediting a certain amount to your number, and so on. The essence of such stories boil down to one thing - you are expected to replenish the accounts of intruders.

How not to fall for these tricks? Do not believe those who promise a quick enrichment. Ponzi schemes that previously existed in real life have now moved to the Internet. About this kind of organization, we can say that this is a fraud on an especially large scale, since the amounts involved are significant. Naturally, having concluded a contract, you will immediately become their debtor.

If you want to participate in paying for the treatment of a sick child - make inquiries, specify the account number. Usually, in real situations, it is not difficult to find out. If a request for help comes from your loved one, first contact him by phone personally.

Install anti-virus protection and an anti-spam filter on your computer and mobile device (smartphone, tablet). This will protect you from viruses and prevent unauthorized calls and mailings from your mobile number.

Thimble games, street lotteries, and other "scams"

A very old and seemingly well-known type of fraud. However, there are still people who want to participate in them. The scheme of involvement is quite simple: before the eyes of the public, an accomplice of scammers, disguised as a random passerby, wins large sums of money. It is difficult for a gambler to pass by, but do not forget where the free cheese is. If you win a little, then you will definitely lose everything.

Card games

They are practiced by professional gamblers-swindlers, who, as a rule, are highly qualified in this criminal profession. They prefer to involve passengers of trains, taxis, hotel guests or simply gamblers who love risk and believe in luck in the card game. For the "client" the game will be arranged in such a way that for some time he will be lucky, but the case always ends in a big loss. There is a special warehouse of people's psychology - a tendency to gambling. Fraudsters of this category are able to accurately identify such people from the crowd and involve them in the game.

Divination

A variegated category - from street gypsies to all kinds of "healers" and "soothsayers". Work alone or in groups. Subtle psychologists are able to figure out those on whom they can easily make money. Finding an approach to the suggested person (their clients are mostly women), they listen to complaints, express compassion and readiness to get rid of all life's troubles and illnesses for a certain amount, sometimes significant. They use elements of suggestion and intimidation: "if you do not remove the damage now, it will be even worse." Usually they achieve that the victim comes to them repeatedly for "healing" sessions and is left without money and without the desired result of "treatment".