White-collar crimes aren’t thought of as much as criminal offenses, but they’re common. They happen every day in South Carolina and elsewhere. It’s important to know the elements that comprise this federal offense.
What is wire fraud?
Wire fraud is one of many white-collar crimes. It involves crimes that intend to scam people of their money through the use of electronic communications. Those communications can be through a variety of means and occur nationally or internationally.
What is an example of wire fraud?
One of the most common examples of wire fraud is the Nigerian prince scam. While this scam isn’t as common now as it was in the mid-2000s, it’s one most people have seen. It involves receiving an email from someone claiming to be a Nigerian prince who’s having trouble and needs help. The scam involves the individual requesting the supposed victim send them money to help and that they will pay them back generously. This is one of the white-collar crimes that involves an intent to gain access to a person’s bank account information so they can scam them out of their money.
What are the elements of wire fraud?
To prove that a person is guilty of wire fraud, certain elements must be in place. With these white-collar crimes, it means that in a case, the accused was involved in a scam to defraud another person to gain access to their money and that they intentionally and knowingly did that.
It must be proven that the individual deliberately made false representations and communicated them through electronic communications. Even if the individual is unsuccessful in their wire fraud scam, they could still be found guilty of the offense.
Wire fraud charges are serious and should be taken seriously. Anyone who is charged with this crime should use all resources available to them to protect their rights and freedom.