This Practice Note on civil fraud (commercial fraud) summarises the main heads of claim (causes of action in fraud) which you may consider pleading in a civil fraud claim, ie Fraudulent misrepresentation, deceit, unjust enrichment, breach of Fiduciary duty, Breach of trust, conspiracy (lawful means conspiracy and unlawful means conspiracy), dishonest assistance, knowing receipt, inducing (procuring) breach of contract and conversion and the applicable limitation periods for such ‘fraud’ claims. It also considers briefly bribery and secret commissions, relief by way of constructive and resulting trusts (including following and tracing), sham transactions, hacked emails (business email compromise (BEC) fraud and ransomware attacks), authorised push payment (APP) fraud and briefly fraud issues around cryptocurrencies.
‘Illegality’ is not a cause of action but it can arise in the context of civil disputes, particularly as a defence. See Practice Note: Illegality in civil claims.
For guidance on the standard of proof and the test for dishonesty in civil fraud claims, see Practice Note: Civil fraud—dishonesty and standard of proof and for the specific requirements when pleading fraud, see Practice Note:
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