Reply #36: then you are wrong

[paulsby]

i have investigated dozens of fraud cases, in 20 yrs of police work.

undercover investigations, whether conducted by private citizens or cops are not fraud.

period.

your above definition is closer to the definition of entrapment than fraud, anyway.

if i ask a guy to sell me an illegal weapon, while working undercover, that's not entrapment, or fraud.

if i tell him i will pay him 20k for it, when the going rate is 1k, that's entrapment.

neither is fraud.

deception to gain trust is not fraud (not in the criminal sense, you may argue it is morally), unless certain other factors are met.