Can someone go to jail for tricking someone online to give them money for a product on Venmo, Google pay, or Apple Pay, or Zelle?

[Anonymous]

Because people online do it all the time so I’m staring to think the police literally can’t do anything. The people that do this use fake everything. Plus the apps people get scammed are the apps that say to not send money for buying, how do you get caught on that?

Yes they can

No they can’t

[WindAtMyBack]

If it involves international stuff, there is virtually nothing the police can do. Even if it's online with someone local, I don't know if the police can, or will, do anything.

Unless I totally misunderstand what happened, the person in the graphic is a victim of their own stupidity. That's not saying what the scammer did was OK. But idiots like the person in that graphic are what feeds the scammers.

As for whether someone can go to jail for it, it's extremely unlikely that would happen. First of all, there is a legit question of whether this would be a civil case or criminal case. If it's international, I'd say there is darn near zero chance of them going to jail. At best they might get their account banned, but a scammer will just make a new one.

[Craftsman]

Seems to me that you (or the person in the Reddit graphic) were victim of fraud, or theft, or something, and that should be recoverable, provided one has the proof and has the time and effort to prove it in arbitration or litigation. For $200.00, it may or may not be worth pursuing.

[Liam_Hayden]

In the USA, yes. Here is a good explanation.

https://www.greghillassociates.com/what-is-internet-fraud-the-defenses-the-punishment.html#:~:text=It%20is%20an%20incredibly%20harsh,up%20to%20%241%20million%20dollars.

[integrale77]

Yes they can it is fraud however the limitations are if the scammers is outside of the country for the person being scammed this will depend on treaties with that country.

[Asker]

Fraud? You mean like childish fraud? It’s literally like asking someone to give you $20 for a benz, and then never giving them the Benz. You think you can take someone to jail for that?

[integrale77]

Yes it's fraud but nothing childish about it the definition of fraud is to someone who deliberately takes advantage of someone and leaved them at a disadvantage. And yes someone can go to prison for that but it's a white-collar crime and unless it's something big generally leads to community service in the UK.

[0112358]

It’s a criminal act but when it’s cross border and it’s hard to even identify the culprit it’s very unlikely.

[Prettygurl12]

Yes. It's a form of fraud.

[Asker]

How? If they willing sent it?

[Prettygurl12]

It's theft by deception. It's almost impossible to find them and it's equally unlikely that you'll recover your lost money, but it's a crime nonetheless.

[zagor]

Probably not much you can do about it if the person is outside your area. If outside the country, you are definitely screwed.

[worldscolide]

Its fraud. They can report to the authorities as well as paypal/venmo

[msc545]

They probably ca, but the police won't usually bother unless a LOT of money is involved.

[Asker]

Like $500? Cause this person got scammed for $2000 and wasn’t able to get it back

[msc545]

Like 50,000

[Smegskull]

Technically yes but you aren't likely to get an extradition order for minor fraud.

[Avicenna]

If someone were willing to prosecute it, sure

[Gwenhwyfar]

They totally can

[Asker]

How?

[Gwenhwyfar]

They can be prosecuted for fraud

[Asker]

But the person willingly sent it

[Gwenhwyfar]

Still fraud

[Asker]

That makes no sense

[Gwenhwyfar]

Fraud means trickery. Trickery to get money is illegal. A prosecutor will explain it to you if you ever get charged with fraud.

[Anonymous]

If you can track them down.

[Gedaria]

It's fraud...