California residents can find their lives turned upside down if they face charges of wire fraud. This is a serious white-collar crime that can impact everyone.
What is wire fraud?
Wire fraud is a white-collar, federal crime. It occurs when a person uses electronic communications to deliberately defraud victims. The perpetrator makes false representations or promises while using some type of electronic means to communicate, such as phone calls, text messages, emails, TV, radio, fax or video.
What are the different types of wire fraud?
There are many types of wire fraud scams used to defraud victims. The main function of these crimes is for the perpetrator to gain something. Usually, it involves money, but sometimes, it could involve another person’s identity.
Phishing is among the most common types of wire fraud. It can happen through email, text or phone call and involves someone claiming to be a representative of a business to fool the victim into providing his or her personal or financial information.
Extortion is a white-collar crime that involves the use of threats to gain a victim’s money or property. Blackmail is an example of this crime and usually involves the perpetrator threatening to expose a victim’s secret.
Ransomware attacks have rapidly increased in popularity among white-collar criminals. It occurs when a person sends a fraudulent email with a rogue link or attachment, and the victim clicks on the link or attachment. When that happens, he or she loses access to his or her computer’s files and data as they become encrypted. Ransomware involves a demand for payment to release the files and data to the victim.
Wire fraud can cause distress to everyone. Victims suffer as they lose money. Those accused can also suffer as they often face unfair charges if they are innocent.
