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St. Thomas Law Review

First Page

761

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Defined in general legal terms, fraud refers to "[a] knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment."' More specifically, consumer fraud is a form of economic crime that "involves some form of communication between victim and offender," and includes "the deliberate deception of the victim with the promise of goods, services, or other benefits that are nonexistent, unnecessary, were never intended to be provided, or were grossly misrepresented." This form of illegal activity is a serious problem in the United States. Recent estimates show that nearly one-half of American adults have been targeted for some form of consumer fraud. Approximately twenty-five million of those targeted by fraudsters, or, alternatively stated, 11.2% of the American adult population were victimized in 2004. In terms of financial loss, consumer fraud costs victims approximately 680 million dollars annually. These alarming statistics underscore the need for a comprehensive understanding of consumer fraud victimization. Toward this end, the research presented in this article addresses several important consumer fraud concerns. Section II, Consumer Fraud Victimization, begins with an overview of Federal and State of Florida Legislation pertaining to consumer fraud, including a discussion of the history of legal policy efforts. Previously conducted consumer fraud research, including types of consumer fraud, victim vulnerability, and victim reporting, are also reviewed in this section. Section III describes the sample and methodology of the inaugural (2004-2005) Florida Consumer Fraud Survey. An analysis of these data is presented in Section IV, which is followed by a discussion of the study's implications for future research and public policy in Section V.

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