A proper definition of fraud would be a deliberate misrepresentation for profit or for gaining some unfair or dishonest advantage.
Definition of Mail Frauds
Order an item, make payment, receive nothing is the simplest form of mail fraud.
Other variants include misleading descriptions, deliberate sale of defective or stolen merchandise including a request that a money order be sent to pay for non-existent or undelivered merchandise.
Definition of E-Mail Spams
Spams are unsolicited e-mail messages sent in bulk in an attempt to reach as many people as possible. No affirmative consent has been obtained from the recipient and the same message is sent to, at least, 200 different e-mail addresses every day, day after day.
Don't reply to any unsolicited e-mail message, don't buy anything from a company you don't know anything about and don't threaten anyone. Stay away from “unsubscribe” options at the end of a spam message, it only serves to confirm that your e-mail address is active. Don't reveal your e-mail address to everyone, use a disposable e-mail address instead and use spam filters.
Embezzlement Trends
One of the most prolific and dangerous top internet fraud scam emerged in the 1980s. It is called the Nigerian or 419 scam, 419 being the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with obtaining money by false pretenses.
One of your next emails could contain a phishing scam or a virus giving access to your computer. A virus is a small self-replicating program that invades your system through an attachment from an email, a file or a disk.
Phishing is a general term for emails, text messages and websites sent by criminals and designed to look like they come from financial institutions, government agencies and known companies or organisations. Their main goal is to collect your personal, financial and other sensitive information such as your credit card number and expiry date.
Credit Card Check Fraud
A thief could obtain your card data and use the information to get a counterfeit card or to make telephone or Internet purchases referred to as “card not present” frauds.
Debit card frauds happen when a thief scans or steals your information from the magnetic strip on the back of your card and creates a duplicate. To steal money from your account, the thief also has to capture your PIN number. Beware of email messages claiming to be from financial institutions as they never send emails asking their customers to provide account information.
Want Another Definition of Fraud?
If an offer sounds suspicious or too good to be true, it probably is. Schemes exist to victimize the greedy and the gullible.