What is Bank Fraud?
Bank fraud is the act of impersonating a financial institution and obtaining funds from people. This is an illegal act that can cost you a hefty fine of a million dollars or a jail sentence of up to 30 years. There are multiple types of bank fraud, but they are all wrapped around the same idea, creating false information for financial gain.
Examples of Bank Fraud
An Example of bank fraud could include stealing checks from businesses and depositing them into your own account. Another example could be creating a mock website of another bank in order to obtain funds from unknowing individuals. Always make sure you check the URL you type in and make sure that it is the correct one. Some scammers have become clever with their schemes and have altered one little thing in the URL that you wouldn’t notice until later. There could be a hyphen in the name and you forgot to add it or the word misspelled. You always want to make sure you know what you are putting your money into. Florida is the leading capital for scams so make sure you don’t fall victim to one. Keep track of your financial statements and report anything suspicious.
Bank fraud is a criminal offense so you would want to look for a criminal defense attorney who has experience in handling bank fraud cases. Offenders of bank fraud can face a prison sentence of up to 30 years a have huge fines that can go up to a million dollars. You want to make sure you get proper representation and an experienced attorney for this case. To find a bank fraud lawyer you can use Google and yelp to locate lawyers near year that are experienced with those cases.
Anatomy of A Bank Fraud
Bank Fraud begins with the use of false information to gain funds from unknowing parties. It begins with a lie and misleading an unsuspecting victim and ends with them having access to your funds. This can be through pretending to be a bank or pretending to be a person to access their bank. How would they get access to that person’s information? This can be done through check fraud, fake websites, and identity theft. For identity theft they could get that information through hacking or if you accidentally throughout a copy of your bank statement with all your information on it. With access to this information, they can get into your account and access all of your funds.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to report bank fraud?
To report fraud, you can call the Florida fraud hotline at (866) 966-7226 or report it to law enforcement. If you believe someone is making fraudulent charges using your bank account, then you can report it to your bank and have your card canceled or account temporarily frozen. You can also submit a report to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or to the Federal Trade Commission.
Who investigates banking frauds in Florida?
Bank Fraud counts as a white-collar crime so It will be under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After the claim has been made then it will be under investigation. Your bank may be contacted to provide information on the claim and offer a response to you for the possible fraudulent activity. If you are found guilty of banking fraud then you will be fined no more than a million dollars or sent to prison for 30 years.
What are the different types of financial frauds?
Financial fraud is a serious offense that can lead to serving serious time. The most common financial fraud is a misappropriation of funds. This means that someone has taken money or payments that are not addressed to them. Statistics show that 90% of financial fraud cases are a misappropriation of funds. The second most frequent is bribery and corruption which means offering money or some type of benefit in order to receive a favorable outcome. It is estimated that 30% of financial fraud cases involved bribery. Other types of financial frauds are identity theft, employee theft, embezzlement, and Ponzi schemes.
How to prevent bank fraud?
There are many ways to prevent and protect yourself from becoming a victim of bank fraud. When you sign up for a bank account make sure that the website you are logging on to is a legit website. Some websites might be off by one thing or there’s something that indicates it isn’t the official website. Do your research on the bank before you sign up, especially if they don’t have physical offices for you to go to when you need to do anything to your account.
Just like any website that has your personal information, you want to make sure change your password periodically. You also want to keep track of all of your expenses and make sure you know where all the transactions have come from. When you write a check make sure you have a carbon copy or a book that you keep track of your finances to make sure no one has altered the amount.
What constitutes bank fraud?
Bank fraud is the act of illegally posing as a financial institution to obtain assets, money, or property from individuals or business. There are a few other offenses that can go under bank fraud like stealing checks, forgery, fraudulent loans and internet fraud. Fraudulent loans mean an individual takes out a loan knowing that they are about to file for bankruptcy then they have committed an offense for bank fraud. Internet fraud means someone creates a false website that poses as a bank in order to receive money from other people. Forgery occurs when someone alters information on a check like adding an extra zero to the number.
Bank Fraud is a criminal offense that counts as white-collar crime and can lead to an FBI investigation. It can be committed through different acts in order to deceive a person to obtain their funds. If you are arrested and found guilty of committing bank fraud, then you can be sentenced to prison for 30 years and/or pay a fine of up to a million dollars. Bank fraud is one of the most expensive white-collar crimes and can leave victims losing millions across the United States.
If you or your loved one have been accused of Bank Fraud, call us at 407-930-8912 to speak with a qualified criminal defense attorney or fill out the contact form on this page. We’re available 24/7, we offer free initial consultation and payment plans. In addition to our Orlando location, we have offices in the following cities across the state of Florida:
- Daytona Beach
- Kissimmee
- Melbourne
- Lakeland
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- Tampa
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- Sanford
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- Sarasota
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