Fraud

 

“Fraud” is any activity that relies on deception in order to achieve a gain, deceit, trickery. Intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right.

I worked in advertising and public relations. The goal is to sell a product or a person or an idea in a method to convince people to buy or donate or believe.

Was it all ‘fact based’ or exaggeration to persuade the listener or viewer?

 

Lying: to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive. She was lying when she said she didn't break the vase. He lied about his past experience. To lie creates a false or misleading impression.

Think about your social media profile.

Whether trying to find the perfect job or a one-night stand or join some group or present yourself as a wonderful, thoughtful, well-educated and good-looking person; you post it as who you are. Swipe left or swipe, right?

Is this fraud? Is this a deception to the viewer who must decide to take the bait or vet more deeply? 

 

Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight of hand as well as distraction, camouflage or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. It can also be called, with varying subjective implications, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, ruse, or subterfuge.

Having faith from what you hear or what you read or what others say, may be true or make-believe. Science is based on facts of repetition results, but created by theory. Much of medicine is educated guess work, hoping for a positive outcome (there are exceptions).

“I’ll love you forever” is said by everyone. Why? What do these words gain your self-interest? Forever is a long time and may work for some, but it is often interrupted by other distractions.

Was it a proposal? A promise? A contract? Or some words to fill the air? Was it fraud?

 

Liable: obligated according to law or equity responsible. Both owners are liable for the debts incurred by the business. Liable is subject to appropriation or attachment. All his property is liable to pay his debts.

If a plumber comes over to fix a pipe and is paid, yet the pipe still leaks, are they liable for the damage? Did they keep their promise to fix it and fail? Do you get your money back?

There is now a clause of LLC or limited liability company that does not guarantee the work and releases any company from completing their work to the customers satisfaction without recourse of payment or additional work.

Is this fraud? Was their promise to professionally perform a task a deception? Were they lying and you believed ‘I’ll take a whack at it’?

Personal property tax is based on a drive by assessment of your house and land. The city or county assembles the prices of houses sold in your area, the renovations approved and additions made to formulate an estimate of what to charge you yearly for living here. Is this fraud?

If a doctor says, ‘This won’t hurt’ and it does, is that fraud? If you pay for a house, based on its assessment, and find it is not worth the price, is that fraud?  If your lover promises you are the only one, then to discover another, is that fraud?

What is the punishment for a broken heart or a falsehood? The courts are full of people suing other people for the injustice of human failure.

Should a book distributed as the answer based on a fictional character be believed as fact? If this book is a fraud, should it be banned? Perhaps it should be read with the children to define the appropriate understanding of the words and meaning?

We humans want to believe in Jesus and Superman and Santa Clause and Harry Potter. We want to escape into our fantasies that can be socially enjoyed or overwhelmingly consumed.

If we present ourselves as better than we actually are or put on a factoid of want-to-be personality, is that fraud?