No matter what their financial status is, nearly everyone has access to some valuable resources. Whether it is money, real estate, other property or even just a good credit-rating, it is valuable, and it would be difficult or costly to replace. Most people are willing to work hard, earn money and maintain the lifestyle they choose. Sadly, not everyone shares this attitude; throughout history, there have always been criminals who would rather steal from others.
Some criminals use a weapon and the threat of violence to steal from people; these criminals can usually be avoided. There is another class of criminals; those who use lies and manipulation to steal. This type of crime is called fraud, and these criminals are not as easy to avoid. Most criminals think it is easier to steal from others that to earn money for themselves. Oddly, many con artists work extremely hard at crafting and perfecting schemes to steal from others, perhaps even harder than honest people. These types of criminals get a thrill out cheating people.
Different Types of Fraud
There are hundreds of variations of fraud in the world. Types of fraud are limited only by the imagination of criminals. Here are three common scams:
Frozen Assets (The Nigerian Scam)
In this classic fraud, a criminal convinces a victim that he or she has been denied access to a large sum of money stored in an account overseas. They offer to split the sum with the victim in exchange for their cooperation in retrieving the money. When the victim reveals his or her checking account information, ostensibly to enable a wire transfer, the criminals instead transfer all the money out of the victim’s account.
Credit Card Fraud
This crime is often based on stolen information. There are many ways that a criminal might obtain the victim’s credit card information. Once they have this information, they can use it to purchase goods or services or even to get a cash advance, up to the available credit limit of the card.
Securities Fraud
When criminals sell nonexistent shares of companies, it is called securities fraud. Securities fraud is a federal crime, and carries the potential for severe penalties.
If you have been the victim of fraud or you have been accused of fraud, you need to get the facts. The first step in this direction is to hire a forensic accountant expert witness to conduct an investigation. A fraud investigation by a forensic accountant will turn up the facts, but these facts are open to interpretation. When your day comes to appear in court, your investigator may act as your fraud expert witness.
A fraud expert witness is a financial professional who specializes in criminal investigations. Not everyone understands financial fraud; these experts do their best to explain complex financial issues in terms that judges and juries can understand.
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Veriti Consulting, LLC’s professionals are expert testifiers and have provided expert witness testimony in a variety of cases throughout the U.S. Call Veriti Consulting today at 855.232.4410 for more information.
