update: May 4, 2015
Auction fraud (criminal offence!)
A contract between users concerning the online sale and\or purchase of goods via either electronic payment or one of the following methods: money transfer through specialized agencies, online money order, top-up of prepaid debit cards.
The unlawful act is the giving out of payment information to the victim, because the goods will not be delivered.
socio-legal aspects
Criminal behaviour:
- art. 640 c.p. (fraud)
- art. 640 ter c.p. (computer fraud)
legal aspects
The aforementioned conduct might cause a breach of Italian Statutory Law. Specifically, the requirements of the following criminal cases might be satisfied:
Art. 640 c.p. Fraud: “Chiunque, con artifizi o raggiri, inducendo taluno in errore, procura a sé o ad altri un ingiusto profitto con altrui danno, è punito con la reclusione da sei mesi a tre anni and con la multa da € 51 a € 1.032. …”.
The crime requirements are satisfied by deliberately misleading the victim. The consequences are both the economical detriment and an unfair profit for the fraudster.
The Law aims to protect both one's patrimony and the freedom to provide a valid consent when dealing with contracts.
Art. 640 ter c.p. paragraph I, Computer Fraud: “Chiunque alterando in qualsiasi modo il funzionamento di un sistema informatico o telematico o intervenendo senza diritto con qualsiasi modalità su dati, informazioni o programmi contenuti in un sistema informatico o telematico o ad esso pertinenti, procura a sé o ad altri un ingiusto profitto con altrui danno, è punito con la reclusione da sei mesi a tre anni and con la multa da € 51 a € 1.032. …”.
Article 640 ter c.p. aims to repress unlawful profits achieved through "fraudulent" exploitation of digital systems. The Law detailing computer fraud aims to protect one's patrimony, the regular functioning of computer systems and the right to privacy that necessarily comes with their usage. (Fiandaca, Musco, Antolisei, Pagliara)
Unlike standard Fraud, Computer Fraud lacks the "misleading" component.
additional information
The FBI has, in recent years, received a significant number of criminal charges concerning online sale of cars. In the vast majority of cases, the criminal organisations have tried to sell vehicles that they could not dispose of, at a price lower than the market value. In order to complete the fraud, the "sellers" have refused to meet potential buyers (and thus, any possibility of inspecting the vehicles) with the excuse of work or mobility issues, which required the immediate sale of the vehicle. The victim, once the partial payment details were sent, would never receive the vehicle after the completion of the bank transfer.
► Webography
http://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2013_IC3Report.pdf
http://www.ic3.gov/preventiontips.aspx#item-1
see also