There's many stories of people who have been swindled.

Usually, we shake our heads with a mix of sympathy and self-righteousness. "Those poor saps. What a bunch of suckers!" We think to ourselves. Or in the case of a business, "well, it probably serves them right."

In reality, fraud happens to people and businesses every day. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. And though the FTC says small businesses are the most vulnerable to scams, the recent Quality Pork Processors payroll check scheme here in Austin makes it obvious even larger businesses are susceptible to fraud.

But what is fraud and what can we do to protect ourselves? This week, in conjunction with National Fraud Awareness Week, the Austin Daily Herald will explore the main types of fraud (business and identity), the consequences some one who commits fraud will face in court and what people and businesses can do to protect themselves.

The series begins today with an examination of what exactly fraud is and how the law punishes those who create scams.

According to Assistant Mower County Attorney Pat Flanagan, fraud and theft are very intertwined as far as the courts are concerned.

Essentially, he says "fraud is a scheme … it's a swindle or a type of trickery." Quoting Black's Law Dictionary, he adds, "it's a false representation of a matter of fact … which deceives or is intended to deceive."

Theft on the other hand, is "taking property without the owner's consent … you have something and I just flat-out take it," he explains.

When it comes to prosecuting fraud, however, the cases generally fall under different types of theft. Depending on the amount of money involved, a person can be charged with a misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or a felony, can spend anywhere from 90 days to 20 years in jail and may have to pay anything from $1,000 to $100,000.

Some types of fraud are treated separately by the law, however. Identity theft in the form of manufacturing, selling and issuing false drivers licenses, forgery, check forgery and false impersonation all carry different sentences.

However, Flanagan says, all the sentences are subject to how many crimes a person has committed and "good time" served in jail.

"Fraud cases are harder to piece together for law enforcement officials, than regular theft. We have to find out if the person really didn't know and if the scam was reasonable," Flanagan says. "For example, if I say 'give me $500 and I'll paint your house,' it seems pretty clear cut, but that's on the surface. Maybe I really told you that you had to give me $500 to wash the house and then another two grand to paint it."

While fraud cases are some of the hardest to prosecute, Flanagan says a "significant percentage" of cases handled in Austin and Mower County are somehow related to fraudulent activity. "We get check forgeries, bad checks, employee thefts, theft by swindling, forged payroll checks all the time," he says.

You can protect yourself from fraud, though, Flanagan says. "If you ever have to pay for something before you get it, be very wary. If they don't have a business address in town, that's another red flag. Don't be afraid to ask for references, to check with the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General's office, the Chamber of Commerce."

"Too many people take things at face value. They think it's rude to check, they want to believe people and not think that someone could steal from an old lady," Capt. Curt Rude of the Austin Police Department says. "The bottom line is that if it's too good to be true, it probably is."

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com