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When is a Lie Fraud?

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nicprescott

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Hello!

***I am writing a series of short stories for my AP Literature class project and a large portion of my grade is that the criminal action story be accurate to the law, as my teacher also teaches AP law. I very much appreciate any help I can get in my research :).***

California

Would it be fraud to use a false identity (one which does not exist) to do something along the lines of the following?:

1. Claim to be a VIP (for example, "prince of X made up country") and specifically request the best reservation at a restaurant. The reservation is given and complementary appetizers are also offered. Since the perpetrator is receiving benefits which may or may not cost the restaurant some money to provide, and the basis of these privileges being offered is a false claim, is this a crime or just a lie and unethical?

2. Claim to be a VIP (for example, "prince of X made up country") and specifically a seat upgrade like airlines tend to do for journalists, VIPs, etc.. The airline gives the seat upgrade to this person, but since they are given the upgrade on the condition that they are prince of X, is it fraud or are they cheating their way into an upgrade?

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for your help! I realize this forum is not a student help forum, so thank you for your time in reading and answering my post :).
 


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nicprescott

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Depending on all facts, it can be a crime to impersonate a real person or to lie about your identity.

To research crimes in California that might apply to your described situations, you can try this link:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codesTOCSelected.xhtml?tocCode=PEN&tocTitle=+Penal+Code+-+PEN

That is the table of contents for California's Penal Code. You will probably want to look through Part I.

Good luck with your writing.
Thank you so much for your help! Greatly appreciated!
 
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