Understanding The Criminal Nature Of Wire Fraud

One early morning, your phone rings. You pick up the phone to answer the call and the person on the other end of the line sounds like one of those telemarketers you get every once in a while. No harm, you think. He keeps talking and talking while you wait for an opening to decline his offer.

But before you can take advantage of the opening, he made a spiel that caught your attention. “You can invest $1000.00 now, and we’ll triple your money after a week.” It’s an offer you can’t resist so you give in. You wait for your $3000.00 but it doesn’t come. A month, then a year comes and you still have not received your money. What do you know; you have just become a victim of wire fraud.

What Is Wire Fraud?

Wire fraud is the term used to refer to any type of fraudulent activity or bogus scheme that uses electronic communication, such as telephones and mobile phones. The United States Code places a huge penalty on anyone who is caught guilty of this crime.

A person is guilty of wire fraud when he or she devises a scheme to defraud somebody of his or her money and properties by giving false promises and the fraudulent activity happened over the telephone or any other electronic communication device.

3 Essential Elements of Wire Fraud

There are 3 essential elements for an act to be classified as wire fraud. These are:

1)     The plan to swindle another person by explaining scenarios that could persuade him or her to make such decisions he or she never would have made

2)     To defraud with intent

3)     Using wire facilities of the interstate such as telecommunications

Penalty for Wire Fraud

Just like any other criminal act, wire fraud too has a penalty. Having committed wire fraud gets you a ticket to jail –- imprisonment of not more than 20 years. The criminal will also be fined. If the victim of wire fraud is a financial institution then a fine of not more than $1,000,000.00 and imprisonment of not more than 30 years shall be given to the one who committed wire fraud.

Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud

A wire fraud scheme may also be considered as a mail fraud scheme. If at any point during the wire fraud scheme, money order is requested to be sent via mail as payment for something that doesn’t really exist, then it may be qualified as mail fraud.

===

We all want to think we are safe but are we? If you want to know more about the different types of crimes committed today, RecordsSiteReviews.com is offering FREE ACCESS to its Criminal Records Information section. If you have a nagging suspicion on someone, run a criminal check on him or her today !