fraud /frɔːd $ frɒːd/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: fraude , from Latin fraus 'deceiving' ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] the crime of deceiving people in order to gain something such as money or goods
tax/insurance/credit card etc fraud
He’s been charged with tax fraud.
electoral fraud
She was found guilty of fraud.
2 . [countable] someone or something that is not what it is claimed to be:
I felt like a fraud.
The police exposed the letter as a fraud.
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THESAURUS
■ crimes of stealing
▪ robbery noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of stealing from a bank, shop etc:
£100,000 was stolen in the robbery.
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The gang carried out a string of daring robberies.
▪ burglary noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of breaking into someone’s home in order to steal things:
There have been several burglaries in our area.
▪ theft noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of stealing something:
Car theft is a big problem.
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thefts of credit cards
▪ shoplifting noun [uncountable] the crime of taking things from shops without paying for them:
They get money for drugs from shoplifting.
▪ fraud noun [uncountable and countable] the crime of getting money from people by tricking them:
He’s been charged with tax fraud.
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credit card fraud
▪ larceny noun [uncountable] especially American English law the crime of stealing something:
He was found guilty of larceny.
▪ phishing noun [uncountable] the activity of tricking people into giving their personal details, bank numbers etc on the Internet, in order to steal money from them:
One in four computer users reports that they have been hit by phishing attempts.