ABSTRACT
The emergence of digital technologies has created new opportunities for criminals to engage in acts of fraud in online environments. The prosecution of these crimes have often been difficult given the defendant’s ability to use the anonymity of the Internet to avoid detection by law enforcement officers. The discussion in this chapter considers whether the Fraud Act 2006 has kept pace with changes arising from the use of digital technologies by considering the developments in the selected common law jurisdictions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The discussion establishes a theme in the construction of fraud offences where there is often an official focus on developing a broad definition of fraud as an offence coupled with tough penal sentences. However, there is an apparent limited appreciation of the changing nature of the way in which fraud can be perpetrated in online environments. This limited appreciation of the changing nature of fraud has created weaknesses in the functioning of the criminal law as a basis to manage the occurrence of fraud in society.
