# fraud

Pronunciation: say "FRAWD" US /fɹɔd/, UK /fɹɔːd/

## Noun

1. The crime of illegally obtaining money or property through deliberate deception.
   - Simple: Getting money from someone by lying or tricking them, which is against the law.
   - _Prosecutors built their case for fraud around forged signatures on the contracts._
   - _The company collapsed after years of accounting fraud went undetected._
2. An act of deception carried out to gain something unfair, undeserved, or unlawful.
   - Simple: A trick or lie used to get something in an unfair way.
   - _The whole scheme was an elaborate fraud designed to win the family inheritance._
   - _Claiming someone else's research as your own is a form of academic fraud._
3. Someone who carries out deception for unfair or unlawful gain.
   - Simple: A person who tricks others to cheat them out of money or trust.
   - _The investment guru turned out to be a fraud who pocketed his clients' money._
   - _She unmasked the psychic as a fraud preying on grieving families._
4. The taking on of a false identity in order to deceive others for gain.
   - Simple: Pretending to be someone else in order to trick people.
   - _She committed fraud by posing as a licensed nurse for years._
   - _The con artist relied on fraud, assuming the identity of a wealthy heir._

## Noun

5. A trap or snare laid to catch a person or animal. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A trap or snare set to catch someone or something.

## Verb

6. To cheat or rob someone of money or rights through deception. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To cheat someone out of money or property by lying to them.
   - _He sought to fraud the widow of her late husband's savings._
   - _Dishonest clerks would fraud the company whenever the books went unchecked._

## Origin

From Middle English "fraude" (recorded since 1345), from Old French "fraude," borrowed from Latin "fraus," meaning "deceit, injury, or offence."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fraud (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).