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Mail fraud andwire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., theU.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or theInternet) mail system todefraud another, and are U.S.federal crimes. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity crosses interstate or international borders.[1][2]
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Mail fraud was first defined in the United States in 1872.
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, or to sell, dispose of, loan, exchange, alter, give away, distribute, supply, or furnish or procure for unlawful use anycounterfeit or spurious coin, obligation, security, or other article, or anything represented to be or intimated or held out to be such counterfeit or spurious article, for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office or authorized depository for mail matter, any matter or thing to be sent or delivered by thePostal Service, or deposits or causes to be deposited any matter or thing to be sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier, or takes or receives therefrom, any such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail or such carrier according to the direction thereon, or at the place at which it is directed to be delivered by the person to whom it is addressed, any such matter or thing, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation occurs in relation to, or involving any benefit authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a Presidential declared major disaster or emergency (as those terms are defined in section 102 of theRobert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)), or affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.[3]
Thus, anyone trying to defraud another individual or group through items of value, e.g., money, through the US mail system or a private mail delivery service and those knowingly participating in that fraud will be punished with a fine and/or prison sentence that cannot be longer than 20 years. However, for such acts during a Presidential declared major disaster or emergency, the prison sentence can be as long as 30 years and the fine as great as $1,000,000.[4]
In mail fraud, USfederal jurisdiction is based on theenumerated power to create a post office under Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution.
International reply coupons mailed by participants ofCharles Ponzi'sscheme are a 20th-century example of mail fraud. Ponzi was charged with the U.S. federal crime of mail fraud.[5]
Wire fraud is afederal crime in the United States involving the use of electronic communications to perpetrate a scheme to defraud. First codified in 1952, the statute was enacted to extend the reach of the oldermail fraud statute to cover fraud conducted via telephone, radio, television, and later the internet.[6]
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If the violation occurs in relation to, or involving any benefit authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed, or paid in connection with, a presidentially declared major disaster or emergency (as those terms are defined in section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. § 5122)), or affects a financial institution, such person shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than 30 years, or both.
Federal courts have identified the essential elements of wire fraud as: (1) voluntary and intentional participation in a scheme to defraud; (2) intent to defraud; (3) reasonable foreseeability that interstate wire communications would be used; and (4) actual use of interstate wire communications in furtherance of the scheme.[7] TheSupreme Court of the United States held in Neder v. United States (1999) thatmateriality of the misrepresentation is a required element.[8]
The scope of the wire fraud statute is broad, with the Supreme Court holding it encompasses "everything designed to defraud by representations as to the past or present, or suggestions and promises as to the future."[9] In 1987, the Supreme Court narrowed the statute's scope inMcNally v. United States, holding that the mail fraud statute "is limited in scope to the protection of property rights" and does not reach "schemes to defraud citizens of their intangible rights to honest and impartial government."[9] Congress responded in 1988 by enacting18 U.S.C. § 1346, which provides that the term "scheme or artifice to defraud" includes schemes to deprive another of "the intangible right of honest services."[9]
InCiminelli v. United States (2023), the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the "right-to-control" theory of property-based wire fraud, holding that the statute is limited to schemes targeting "traditional property interests" and does not extend to an entity's intangible right to control its assets.[10] However, inKousisis v. United States (2025), the Court upheld the "fraudulent inducement" theory, ruling that a defendant may be convicted of wire fraud for inducing a victim to enter a transaction under materially false pretenses, even if the defendant did not intend to cause economic loss.[11]
Wire fraud has become one of the most commonly charged federal crimes. Prosecutions reached record levels in fiscal year 2023, with approximately 88 percent of cases resulting in conviction. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349), added to federal law in 2002, is frequently charged alongside substantive wire fraud counts.[12]
Wire fraud is sentenced under USSG §2B1.1, which governs fraud and theft offenses. The base offense level is 7, with significant enhancements based on the amount of loss, number of victims, use of sophisticated means, and targeting of vulnerable victims. Loss amounts exceeding $250,000 add 12 levels; amounts exceeding $65 million add 24 levels. The maximum statutory penalty is 20 years imprisonment, increasing to 30 years if the offense affects a financial institution.[citation needed]
Wire fraud charges have been central to some of the largest financial fraud prosecutions in American history:
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For the purposes of this chapter, the term "scheme or artifice to defraud" includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.[26]
There are three elements to mail and wire fraud: mail or wire communication, a scheme andintent to defraud someone, and amaterial deception.[27]
Mail fraud applies only to United States domestic mailings and use of interstate carriers (UPS,FedEx) which must originate in one state, and successfully terminate pursuant to the address label inside another state. The transportation must, therefore, be "interstate" (over whichCongress has power to regulate), which requires that the mailing cross at least one state line into another state.[27] Wire fraud has been expanded by Congress to include foreign wire communication or interstate connections via (e.g.) an e-mail server or telephone switch or radio communication.[28]
InMcNally v. United States (1987), the Supreme Court held that 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343 did not reach honest services fraud.[29] Congress responded by passing 18 U.S.C. § 1346. InSkilling v. United States (2010), the Court construed § 1346 to apply only to bribes and kickbacks.[30]
United States v. Regent Office Supply Co. (1970) involves Regent which was a company that sold orders over a telephone. Regent representatives would exaggerate their office products over the phone. The United States government charged the company with wire fraud.[31] The company's salesmen were accused of making "false pretenses" over the phone.[32] TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the "repugnant" conduct of the company did not amount to criminality.
Lustiger v. United States, 386 F.2d 132 (9th Cir., 1967), involved a real estate advertisement mail fraud. The defendant stated that as a salesman he had engaged inpuffery.
InUnited States v. Takhalov (2016), female nightclub employees would pose as tourists, engage with potential customers, and lure them into nightclubs owned by Takhalov. The employees would express romantic interest in the customers and not reveal that they were club employees.[33] The11th Circuit ruled that Takhalov deceived their customers, but this deception didn't amount to defrauding the customers under the Wire Fraud statute.
There are many types of mail fraud schemes, includingemployment fraud, financial fraud,fraud against older Americans, sweepstakes andlottery fraud, andtelemarketing fraud. Additional information about these various types of mail fraud schemes can be found on theUnited States Postal Inspection Service website.[34]
In the 1960s and 1970s, ChiefPostal Inspector Martin McGee, also known as "The Top Sleuth" or "Mr. Mail Fraud", led his department in exposing and prosecuting numerous mail fraud swindles such as land sales, phony advertising practices, insurance rip-offs, and fraudulent charitable organizations that used the mail to facilitate their illegal activities.[35]
The scope of 18 U.S.C. §1341 and 18 U.S.C. §1343 is broad. These statutes have been held by theSupreme Court to encompass "everything designed to defraud by representations as to the past or present, or suggestions and promises as to the future."[36] Lower courts have progressively expanded this ruling, finding that the law "puts its imprimatur on the accepted moral standards and condemns conduct which fails to match the 'reflection of moral uprightness, of fundamental honesty, fair play and right dealing in the general and business life of members of society'".[37] As interpreted, these requirements are not difficult to meet; the Justice Department claims to defer federal prosecution for petty local fraud.
In 1987, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled inMcNally v. United States to narrow the scope of the mail and wire fraud statutes, ruling that the statute pertained only to schemes to defraud victims of tangible property, including money. In 1988, Congress enacted a new law that specifically criminalized schemes to defraud victims of "the intangible right of honest services" (honest services fraud).
Types offraud | |
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| Business-related | |
| Family-related | |
| Financial-related | |
| Food-related | |
| Government-related | |
| Healthcare | |
| Other types | |
