Theft and fraud: concepts of crimes, main differences

The criminal legislation of the Russian Federation traditionally classifies six forms of unlawful taking of another person’s property: fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement, theft, robbery, robbery. The method of committing the crime is the main criterion for this distinction. At the same time, in the understanding of citizens, there is often confusion about what actions can be considered fraud, and how they differ from theft and robbery.
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Crime concepts

Robbery is a crime against property that involves the open removal of items or money belonging to the victim.

In this case, beatings may occur in an attempt to break the victim’s resistance, but they should not exceed the qualifications of light or minor damage to health.

Robbery can be carried out both in an open space and when entering a room.

Extortion is a crime of taking material assets from a victim or exerting pressure to sign an agreement, contract or other document that deprives the victim of corresponding benefits.

The act is based on moral pressure, threats or blackmail, which forces the victim to comply with the conditions of the criminals.

Today, this crime is quite common among minors.

In schools and other educational institutions, a group of teenagers extort money from weaker, unorganized or younger children and teenagers.

If your child complains about such an illegal demand from teenagers, you have the right to file a report at the police station, as this act is punishable by law.

Theft is the secret theft of the victim’s property, always carried out unnoticed by the victim. It is planned by the criminal taking into account the concealment of the crime and in order to remain unnoticed during the illegal seizure of valuables.

Robbery is the most dangerous form of theft of property, which involves danger to the health and life of a person in case of active resistance. It can be particularly cynicism and cruelty, suppressing the resistance of the victim.

It is carried out with the use or readiness to use firearms or bladed weapons, as well as with the use of any objects that act as weapons when striking.

If you have become a victim of robbery, then in court, in addition to compensation for material damage, you can seek compensation for moral damage.

Legislative regulation of the offense

The concept and essence of a criminal act, types of offenses, as well as penalties for each of them are fully set out in Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which consists of several parts considering each type. In accordance with them, fraud is qualified in the following manifestations:

simple fraud - theft of someone else's property by deception without aggravating circumstances;
qualified fraud – a crime committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy;
fraud using official position;
fraud associated with failure to fulfill contractual obligations in the business sphere, resulting in significant damage (according to Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, “significant” means damage in the amount of 10 thousand rubles);
fraud on a large and especially large scale in cases where the value of property is from 3 and 12 million rubles, respectively.

The concept of illegal acts

Fraud is the theft of someone else's property (the right to it), committed through deception or abuse of trust.

In other words, during fraud, the victim does not realize that his property is being stolen. He independently transfers it into the hands of criminals, not suspecting that a crime is being committed against him.

If the owner of the property resists, this is not fraud, but, depending on the circumstances, can be classified as robbery or robbery.

The active resistance of the victim and awareness of the situation is a distinctive feature of such crimes as robbery and robbery.

A striking example is telephone fraud or fraud using online payment systems, when the victim voluntarily transfers a certain amount of money to the criminal’s account, naively believing that he, for example, is a bank employee, or tells him his card number and password. You can read about other types and schemes of fraud in our material.

Theft, according to Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is the secret theft of someone else’s property.

The peculiarity of the theft is its secret nature; the property is stolen unnoticed by its owner. For example, bus pickpockets commit theft because they secretly steal valuables from the bags or pockets of unwary passengers.

That is, in this case, the thief understands that the property is someone else’s, he has an owner, and consciously, deliberately appropriates it for himself. Theft from apartments and cars in the absence of the owner should also be classified as a crime such as theft.

Thus, despite the “neighborhood” of these crimes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, their essence is different. In fraud, a person transfers his property to the criminal with his own hands, in contrast to theft, when a person does not even suspect that a crime is being committed against him at the moment. The main difference lies precisely in the method of committing the crime!

Composition of the crime: fraud

The object of this crime is property relations, in other words, property or the right to it belonging to someone.
The subject of fraud can be both property and the right to it. If everything is more or less clear with property, then how can you steal the right? An example would be the situation with receiving payments under an insurance policy, for example, in the event of an accident. People, having agreed in advance, stage an accident, after which they contact the insurance company to receive insurance payments, although they did not have the right to do so.
The objective side is expressed in the theft of the right to property or directly someone else’s property through abuse of trust or deception.
Moreover, the motive for committing a crime is selfish, aimed at obtaining personal gain.
The subject of this crime is general; no special requirements are imposed on him; it is enough that he is a physically sane person who has reached the age of 16 years.
The subjective side of this type of theft is characterized by direct intent and selfish purpose. In this case, two moments of intent are distinguished - volitional and intellectual.
The intellectual element of intent is that the perpetrator realizes that his actions are illegal, aimed at taking possession of someone else’s property or the right to it and will cause certain damage to its owner.
The volitional moment of intent lies in the desire of the person committing the theft for these consequences to occur.
A selfish goal is expressed in the desire of the criminal to acquire the property of the victim into his own ownership for the purpose of profit and benefit. If there is no selfish purpose, there can be no theft.

Also read: Cases of petty fraud: where danger lurks.
You will find more information about the objective and subjective sides of the crime of “fraud” and other aspects in a separate article.

Our experts have prepared a number of articles that will help you understand the legal aspects of this crime, including petty fraud, large-scale and especially large-scale fraud, as well as the moment and place of the end of the crime and the statute of limitations.

Composition of the crime: theft

As mentioned above, theft is secret theft, and this is the difference from robbery. At the same time, secrecy has two criteria - objective and subjective.

The objective criterion of secrecy is expressed in the fact that the theft of property occurs in the absence of its owner and other persons, or in their presence, but unnoticed by them.
The subjective criterion assumes that the criminal is aware that he is illegally confiscating property in the absence of other persons. This criterion is very important, since the moment of secrecy during theft is key. Moreover, even if outsiders saw the very fact of the theft of an item, but believed that the criminal took possession of it legally, or the culprit acted in the presence of outsiders, thinking that he was committing a crime secretly, this will constitute theft.
The object of theft is someone else's property, which the criminal wants to turn to his own benefit.
The objective side is expressed in the form of illegal acquisition of someone else’s property in favor of the criminal, while harm is caused to the owner of this property. The motive for this crime is also selfish.
Subject is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16 years. Legal entities, according to current legislation, cannot be held criminally liable.
The subjective side of this type of theft is characterized by direct intent and selfish purpose.

Differences between fraud and theft and robbery

Analyzing the concepts of “fraud”, “theft” and “robbery”, the main difference between each type of crime becomes obvious - the method of its commission and the circumstances in which it is realized.

Theft, according to Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is the deliberate appropriation of someone else's property, carried out in a secret form. In an action hidden from the owner of the thing and other persons, the criminal confiscates this or that object free of charge, knowingly aware of the fact that it belongs to another person.

In turn, robbery as a type of crime involves the deliberate open theft of someone else's property (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). During a robbery, the attacker realizes that his illegal actions aimed at appropriating someone else's property are not hidden either to the victim of the crime or to third parties.

Unlike the above-mentioned forms of theft, fraud involves the use of psychological techniques, since its essence is that the criminal deceives his victim or abuses her trust in him.

Theft in fraud is carried out in such a way that the victim transfers the property object to the attacker in a voluntary, conscious form.

At the same time, fraud as a type of intentional crime excludes the use of threats or violence.

Main differences

Each of the related crimes, with a certain development of events, can flow into other, similar offenses.

It is often difficult to qualify the actions of a criminal in relation to a specific crime if he acted chaotically and tried to use different strategies.

Method of committing the crime

In fraud, deception is the main method of obtaining property. To achieve the goal, the criminal can use various techniques:

misleading the victim;
reporting false information;
substitution of documents or banknotes;
falsification;
weighing;
silence about facts that the offender was obliged to inform the victim.

Theft differs from fraud in that when it is committed, the deception of the victim is an auxiliary action for the use of another method. With the help of deception, the thief distracts attention, facilitates the process of taking property, and creates conditions more favorable for committing illegal actions.

The role of the victim in the crime

The two types of crime will differ in the involvement of the victim. The main sign of theft is that it was committed secretly, against the will of the victim. In fraud, the owner of the property voluntarily gives it to the criminal. He, taking advantage of the gullibility of the victim, fraudulently obtains the right to own and dispose of property. Only a legally competent citizen can be a victim of fraud.

Fraud also includes the taking of property by deception or abuse of trust by the person engaged in security.

Subject of the crime

In the event of theft, the owner loses only the property itself. Legally, he remains its legal owner. Unlike a thief, a fraudster directs his actions not only to obtain property, but also to seize the rights to it. They may be limited, but they still allow the victim to be deprived of the right to use property and to give the criminal the opportunity to own, use and dispose of it legally.

Other aspects

Theft and fraud are different:

the subject of the crime (in the second case it is broader);
the moment of completion of the illegal act (fraud regarding rights to objects ends when property rights are obtained).

There are also such features:

Differences	In case of fraud	In case of theft
Presence/absence of rights of the victim regarding the property object	There are powers	No authority
Receiving property	The property is transferred to the victims,	The victim does not know that the crime has been committed
Subject of the crime	A person can be punished from the age of 16	Responsibility begins upon reaching 14 years of age

Fraud: concept and essence of the offense

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation interprets fraud as one of the varieties of selfish and gratuitous seizure of a property object (theft) or the assignment of rights to it through deceptive actions on the part of the criminal and abuse of a trusting relationship on the part of the victim.

At the same time, from a legal point of view, when qualifying a crime, the following point is important: deceptive acts against a third party or abuse of his trust will not be considered fraud if there is no fact of theft of property or assignment of rights to it to the detriment of the owner.

In other words, fraud is nothing more than deceiving someone with the goal of obtaining material gain.

Reclassification of crime

The circumstances surrounding the commission of some crimes are clear from the beginning of their investigation. In other cases, it can be more difficult to distinguish between fraud and theft. Sometimes reasons may appear that lead to the reclassification of one crime into another:

The emergence of new information about a criminal act.
Changes in criminal legislation.
Identifying errors in determining the type of offense.

So, for example, a citizen entrusts an apartment to a friend for registration in Rosreestr. The criminal receives a power of attorney and appropriates the property. His actions are considered fraudulent. But the investigation reveals that the victim is an incompetent person and does not have the ability to adequately evaluate his actions. The criminal knew this, took advantage of the victim’s condition and persuaded the homeowner to sign the necessary documents. In such a situation, the crime will be reclassified from fraud to theft.

Requalification can be carried out at different stages of the criminal process:

during an investigation;
during the judicial hearing of the case.

"Portrait" of a fraudster

The techniques used by the scammers are not acceptable for ordinary theft.
The fraudster misleads his “victim”; he can use bait, for example, he offers more favorable terms under the contract or underestimates the cost of the products offered. The criminal presents information to the victim only that which is beneficial to him. Often scammers try to provoke emotions in the victim, make him worry and even afraid. For example, one of the latest mobile scams is when they call parents or close friends and claim that their child or other family member has been taken into police custody and demand a ransom for his release. That is, an imaginary type of threat is created.

Fraudsters can promise a lot, they never argue with the victim.

We invite you to read: Personal income tax in 2021. Income tax on wages (income) of individuals

And a purely psychological point, unlike an ordinary thief, scammers are always well dressed, speak well, can make an impression and often master techniques of psychological influence. As a rule, it takes a lot of time to prepare for fraud, especially if we are talking about a large sum.

Types of fraud

Based on the type of messages, written and oral fraudulent deception are distinguished.

Actions are distinguished:

falsification;
cheating techniques in games;
substitution of documents or monetary units;
mobile deception;
weighing and so on.

If we are talking about abuse, then in this case we are not talking about deception; the offender uses psychological techniques.

Liability for fraud

According to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, fraud (Article 159) is punishable by:

a fine of up to 120,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the convicted person for a period of up to 1 year;
forced labor - up to 180,000 hours;
correctional labor - up to 1 year;
arrest - up to 4 months;
imprisonment for up to 2 years.

Fraud committed by a group of participants (preliminary conspiracy) or causing significant damage to the owner of the property is punishable:

a fine of up to 300,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) punished for a period of up to 2 years;
compulsory work - from 180,000 to 240,000 hours;
correctional labor - up to 2 years;
imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Fraud committed by someone using his official position, or fraud on a large scale, is punishable:

a fine from 100,000 to 500,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) punished for a period of 1 to 3 years;
imprisonment for up to 6 years with a fine of up to 10,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) of the convicted person for 1 month, or without a fine.

Fraud on an especially large scale or committed by an organized group is punishable by:

imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years with a fine of up to 1,000,000 rubles or in the amount of earnings (other income) punished for a period of up to 3 years, or without a fine.

Criminal liability

According to Part 1 and Art. 15 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, these offenses are crimes of minor severity (the term of imprisonment for which does not exceed two years).

The list of punishments for committing theft is wide - from a fine to imprisonment. The amount of the fine, depending on the severity of the crime committed, can range from 80,000 to 1,000,000 rubles, the period of stay in places “not so remote” is from 2 to 10 years.

A similar situation is observed with fraud. For committing simple fraud, the attacker will have to pay a fine of up to 120,000 rubles, or benefit society through compulsory labor for up to 360 hours or forced labor for up to 2 years, or imprisonment for up to 2 years. We talked about the amount at which criminal liability for fraud begins here, and from this article you will learn about criminal liability in the form of a term of restriction of freedom and other penalties for fraud.

Despite the apparent similarity, the studied elements of the crime also have fundamental differences. Do not make hasty conclusions about the essence of the criminal act, carefully study the norms of the criminal law and take into account all the signs of a crime, then the correct qualification will not be difficult for you.

Grounds for mitigation of punishment

Persons over 14 years of age may be subject to criminal liability. But if the perpetrator of the crime is a minor (under 18 years of age), then he is entitled to a reduced sentence. The types of punishments imposed on minors are discussed in Art. 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

As mitigating circumstances when committing theft under Art. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation includes pregnancy, minor children being dependent on the offender, coercion to theft by a third party. The punishment is mitigated in case of voluntary confession of committing theft and with the help of the investigation, as well as in the case of committing such a crime for the first time.

If you need legal advice for a more detailed explanation of offenses and penalties for them, you can ask your questions to a specialist for free on our website.

Bibliography

Tokmantsev D.V. On the issue of methods of theft of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances // Criminal law. 2015. No. 2. P. 75.
Sidorova A.V. Objective signs of theft // Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University. – 2013. – No. 11 P. 106
Vorontsova S.V. On the issue of qualification of crimes in the field of electronic payments // Banking Law, 2009, N 1
Verdict of the Norilsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory dated July 31, 2017. Case No. 1-265/2017 https://judicial decisions.rf/28544196/extended
Verdict of the Sovetsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk dated February 7, 2018 Case No. 1-94/2018 https://judicial decisions.rf/33117136/extended
Tokmantsev D.V. On the issue of methods of theft of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances // Criminal law. 2015. No. 2. P. 75.

Arbitrage practice

Based on judicial practice, which is formed through the study by the judicial authorities of the territorial units of the country of various situations related to the theft of funds and other people's property owned by citizens. Article 158 of the Criminal Code applies to all judicial bodies, even in the presence of internal regional regulations that work optimally. The court, which carries out the work of restoring justice and imposing penalties, cannot always immediately understand the current situation and is guided by an individual approach to each citizen. The main problematic issues when considering criminal proceedings, where theft under Article 158 is considered a key aspect, are:

the ability to differentiate petty thefts from other minor thefts, qualify the crime properly, and correctly assign punishment;
consideration of issues related to theft of large or especially large values;
the process of determining the signs that characterize theft;
bringing to responsibility due to repeated violation of the law, as well as a combination of several crimes related to theft in one process.

Also read: Fraud in the lending industry (expert opinion)

Another problem is the lack of awareness of people about punishment; usually few citizens know what responsibility theft entails and what article stipulates for its commission. The solution to this issue can be considered preventive work with the population in terms of legal literacy.

Additional questions

Large and especially large theft: what are the differences?

Art. is devoted to theft on an especially large scale, as well as other types of secret theft. 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This provision refers to three types of damage: significant, large and especially large.

Note! Damage of more than 5 thousand rubles is considered significant. In each specific case, it is determined based on the financial situation of the crime victim.

In contrast, large and especially large damages have clear boundaries. They do not depend on the financial condition of the victim. The amount of theft on a large scale is from 250 thousand rubles, the amount of theft on an especially large scale is from 1 million rubles.

If the theft was committed by a minor

A person who has reached fourteen years of return is held accountable on the basis of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but with mitigating conditions described in Article 88 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In what cases is theft considered “petty”?

In Art. 158 talks about several types of thefts and criminal liability for them. But theft can also be classified within the scope of the Code of Administrative Offenses (CAO RF) if it was recognized as minor:

Theft of property or money in the amount of no more than 1000 rubles (Part 1 of Article 7.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Punishable by an administrative fine of 1,000 rubles, arrest for up to 15 days, or compulsory labor for up to 50 hours;
Theft of property worth from 1000 to 2500 rubles (Part 2 of Article 7.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). Punishable by a fine of 3,000 rubles, arrest for a period of 10 to 15 days, or compulsory labor for up to 120 hours.

Based on Article 158.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for repeated petty theft (within one year), the attacker will already face criminal liability.

What is the difference between robbery and robbery?

Robbery, unlike robbery, does not pose a danger to the life of the victim.
A robber, when taking property, does not intend to use brutal violence, although he may cause some harm to health. Robbery involves the use of violence initially, in preparation for a criminal operation, when criminals, intending to carry out an illegal act, take weapons with them.

However, if, while trying to rob a victim who resisted, the attacker inflicted blows that were dangerous to his health and life with an object that came to hand, the act will be classified as banditry.

Threatening with an air pistol during a robbery is classified as robbery if the victim mistook it for a real firearm.

What is the difference between robbery and theft

Robbery differs from theft in the methods of taking property. In case of theft, it is always carried out secretly, hidden.

Robbery is an open act carried out in the presence of the victim. However, these differences have a fine line.

If you imagine that during the theft, the victim returned, or otherwise discovered that property values or money were being illegally taken from him, the shroud of mystery from the crime falls away. It can no longer be classified as theft.

In this case, the leading role is played by the chosen strategy of the criminal, who can:

Flee from the crime scene, leaving valuables in place;
Flee from the scene of the crime along with valuables;
Stay at the crime scene, grab whatever object comes to hand and begin beating the victim.

If the criminal chooses to escape by throwing away valuables, the act may be classified as attempted theft.

If he fled with the stolen valuables, then his act would be classified as robbery.

And if, at the same time, he caused significant damage to the victim’s health, he will be accused of robbery.

The difference between extortion and robbery

In case of extortion, the victim is forced to give up property values or money, being subjected to moral pressure from the attackers.

And the robber does not force you to give up either money or property - he simply takes them away.

During a robbery, objects can be torn out of the hands of the victim by the criminal, knocked out with a blow, and simply taken from the place where they were.

The main characteristic is the openness of the act, the removal of valuables in the presence of the victim, with the subsequent appropriation of the stolen property and disposal of it at one’s own discretion.

But here there is also a fine line between the criminal acts that the criminal performed against the victim.

If the attacker planned to take away property values, but for objective or subjective reasons was unable to carry out his plan and chose a different strategy:

He began to threaten with violence, forcing him to hand over valuables;
Threatened with violence against other persons for the same purpose;
He used other methods of moral suppression.

This act will be classified as extortion.

But, if the threats were accompanied by a demonstration of weapons, the act will be classified as robbery.

That is, extortion cannot go beyond the scope of moral pressure on the victim.

Moreover, the extortionist, when planning the act, does not create potential threats to the life and health of the victim.