Fraud vs. Negligence — What's the Difference?

In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong.

Negligence (Lat. negligentia) is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances.

A deception practiced in order to induce another to give up possession of property or surrender a right.

The state or quality of being negligent.

A piece of trickery; a trick.

A negligent act or a failure to act.

One that defrauds; a cheat.

Failure to use the degree of care appropriate to the circumstances, resulting in an unintended injury to another.

One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

An act or omission showing such lack of care.

(law) The crime of stealing or otherwise illegally obtaining money by use of deception tactics.

The state of being negligent.

Any act of deception carried out for the purpose of unfair, undeserved and/or unlawful gain.

The tort whereby a duty of reasonable care was breached, causing damage: any conduct short of intentional or reckless action that falls below the legal standard for preventing unreasonable injury.

The assumption of a false identity to such deceptive end.

The breach of a duty of care: the failure to exercise a standard of care that a reasonable person would have in a similar situation.

A person who performs any such trick.

The quality or state of being negligent; lack of due diligence or care; omission of duty; habitual neglect; heedlessness.

(obsolete) A trap or snare.

An act or instance of negligence or carelessness.

(obsolete) To defraud

The omission of the care usual under the circumstances, being convertible with the Roman culpa. A specialist is bound to higher skill and diligence in his specialty than one who is not a specialist, and liability for negligence varies acordingly.

Deception deliberately practiced with a view to gaining an unlawful or unfair advantage; artifice by which the right or interest of another is injured; injurious stratagem; deceit; trick.

Failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances

An intentional perversion of truth for the purpose of obtaining some valuable thing or promise from another.

The trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern

A trap or snare.

Intentional deception resulting in injury to another person

A person who makes deceitful pretenses

Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage