White-collar crimes differ from blue-collar crimes in that these criminal activities often lack physical violence and bloodshed. That does not mean they do any less damage, though.
Certain forms of white-collar crime can include fraud, which may actively end up cheating people out of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. While mail fraud continues to exist as a popular means to carry this out, wire fraud is quickly catching up.
The purpose of fraud
The Department of Justice discusses wire fraud as a crime. It is similar to mail fraud in purpose and intent but differs in the means by which a perpetrator will carry it out.
All forms of fraud have a similar purpose. This is to separate an individual from their goods or assets or to refuse to give them honest service in exchange for their money.
Mail fraud will use items sent by physical mail to achieve this goal. This can include parcels, postcards, letters and packages. It involves anything sent via the mail even through private carriers, due to the ultimate use of the USPS system by all carriers in the country.
Wire fraud, on the other hand, uses digital means to commit fraud. This includes text messages, emails, faxes, forum comments and more.
The growth of wire fraud
In today’s digital world, this form of fraud has grown increasingly more prevalent as technology continues to gain reach and power. Many experts speculate that wire fraud will soon overtake mail fraud as the most common form of fraud in the country.
Both wire and mail fraud hold the same high penalties for those convicted of these crimes, however.