3 common kinds of fraud professionals can commit in Boston

White-collar crimes involve misrepresentation, manipulation or outright lies to take advantage of other people’s property. Fraud crimes typically involve some kind of misrepresentation or lying for financial gain. For example, misrepresenting a company’s financial situation to convince someone to invest would be a form of fraud.

Some kinds of fraud are glaringly obvious, like Ponzi schemes. Others may look deceptively similar to clever business practices. What are some of the more common forms of fraud that a professional in Boston could find themselves accused of committing?

Mortgage fraud

Rarely in life will an individual transfer as much money as they do when buying a house. As such, mortgage fraud is a major concern.

It could take many different forms, ranging from buyers lying about their assets or employment to a mortgage broker convincing an appraiser to inflate the value of the home. Mortgage fraud can involve lying to secure financing or even obtaining a mortgage on a property that doesn’t actually exist.

Health insurance fraud

Often considered recession-proof, the health industry has suffered real contractions in the last few years. People have delayed basic care or even avoided emergency medical procedures to their own detriment. Health care providers have had to make changes to their business operations to reduce expenses or increase revenue.

Some health care professionals have faced financial difficulty. Doctors seeing patients and those who manage their insurance billing practices could commit health insurance fraud through bad billing practices. Some cases involve making up fake appointments that no one ever attended. Other times, health insurance fraud involves exaggerating the treatment received to charge more.

Wire fraud

Wire fraud comes in many forms. Sometimes, a member of an executive team tricks someone on the accounting team to wire funds for their personal benefit while avoiding the creation of a paper trail. Other times, wire fraud involves complex schemes where people impersonate business professionals or even want enforcement agencies to convince people to send money via wire transfer.

Once someone sends the money, it is hard to track and impossible to recall the funds. Wire fraud continues to be a big issue both for individuals and businesses in Massachusetts.

Any of these forms of fraud could lead to charges against those who benefited from them and those involved, perhaps unknowingly, in a fraud conspiracy. Recognizing common forms of fraud can help those facing allegations of white-collar criminal activity.