Fraud as a type of theft: issues of legal regulation

Abstract

Fraud as a type of theft is a common and difficult to detect (according to recent statistics) type of crime. The article considers the concept, content, and nature of fraud as a type of theft in Russian criminal law. The technique of fraudulently acquiring the right to someone else’s property is identical but this study dwells on such an exclusive option for theft as the acquisition of property rights. The main method for solving the research problem is a comparative-legal statistical study of fraud clearance rates. The authors consider some articles of the current Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to analyze and draw a conclusion regarding the novelty and the need to adopt new articles. It is concluded that deception can be expressed in an active form, the deliberate communication of false or distorted information, or in a passive form, i.e., hiding the truth or legally significant facts. From the outside, it seems that the victim of fraud willingly transfers their property to the perpetrator. However, the real situation is not like that. The victim, being delusional, does not realize that they were deceived, and their trust was abused.