Fraud involves deception, false suggestions or suppression of truth for unauthorized benefit to the perpetrator or to an institution. It can take many forms:

Identity fraud, which includes identity theft and credit card fraud, costs financial services firms, insurance companies, and healthcare providers billions each year. It is often committed by employees at all levels of an organization, including executives. It may also be a result of data breaches, ransomware attacks and other cyber crimes.

The Commonwealth’s Fraud and Corruption Control Framework defines a fraud to be any act or failure to act with intent, which results in an unwarranted loss of money, property, goods, or services. It can include a variety of actions, such as:

Criminologist Donald R. Cressey identified three conditions that must be met for fraud to occur: fraudsters must have motive, pressure or pressures (such as losing a job or status), opportunity and some form of rationalization (such as feeling they are owed the resources or that their unethical behavior is justified).

The Crime Branch works with partners across federal agencies and international organizations to uncover and prevent fraud at every level of the economy. This includes investigating mortgage fraud, financial institution fraud and corporate fraud. It also includes assisting in the investigation of cases involving money laundering, which is the process of making “dirty” money look like it came from legitimate sources. The Crime Branch conducts research, training, public education and outreach and participates in a number of interagency and international task forces.