wire fraud

noun

: fraud committed using a means of electronic communication (such as a telephone or computer)

Examples of wire fraud in a Sentence

He was charged with wire fraud.

Recent Examples on the Web

Critics have accused Freedom 250 of politicizing and profiting off the milestone, with congressional Democrats accusing it of wire fraud and other deceptive fundraising practices in a report published last month. — Rachel Treisman, NPR, 21 Aug. 2026

In April 2026, a federal grand jury returned indictments charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. — Art Jipson, The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2026

Michigan State’s Yeargain, writing in the Missouri Law Review in 2020 about fake polls affecting prediction markets, argued that publishing fake polls to influence betting markets was either commodities fraud or wire fraud, or both. — Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026

The five-count indictment charges violations of the CEA (unlawful use of confidential government information, theft of nonpublic government information, and commodities fraud), wire fraud, and money laundering. — The Insider, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for wire fraud

• amphipod
• arthropod
• copepod
• decapod
• endopod
• escalade
• esplanade
• exopod
• gastropod
• goldenrod
• isopod
• ostracod

Legal Definition

wire fraud

see also:

fraud