1. Theft and fraud are different in nature.

Theft refers to the act of secretly stealing a large amount of property occupied by others for the purpose of illegal possession, or repeatedly stealing, burglary, armed theft and pickpocketing;

The crime of fraud refers to the act of defrauding a large amount of public and private property through deception for the purpose of illegal possession.

2. Theft and fraud adopt different criminal means. Theft is manifested in secret stealing, while fraud is manifested in fabricating facts and concealing the truth, so that the victim can take the initiative to dispose of his property after having a wrong understanding;

3. The key difference between theft and fraud lies in whether the victim disposes of property based on his own misunderstanding. Theft is against the will of the victim, and fraud is based on wrong understanding to make the victim dispose of property.

Theft requires the following evidence to be convicted:

1, the main evidence. It should include resident identity documents and household registration certificates;

2. Behavior evidence. It should include the victim's statement of the stolen goods and the characteristics of the goods at a specific time, place and place; The insider's testimony about the secret theft of criminal suspects and defendants; Proof of the gloves and shoes worn by the criminal suspect and defendant when committing theft, the physical objects and photos of criminal tools, stolen money, stolen goods and other physical evidence, as well as relevant physical evidence and trace inspection reports; 3. Evidence of the results. It should include the victim's statement about theft, the confession of the criminal suspect and the defendant about stolen goods, the testimony of witnesses about the theft of property, and the certificate of relevant departments about the theft of property. ; 4. Subjective evidence. It shall include the evidence that the criminal suspect or defendant actually holds, uses, sells, rents or lends the stolen money; The confession of the criminal suspect and the defendant's own admission of the theft;

5. Plotting evidence. Evidence of the circumstances of conviction shall include price assessment, invoices for goods, etc. The evidence of sentencing circumstances should include the status and role of the perpetrator in the joint crime, the nature of the stolen unit, the perpetrator's mode of committing crimes, whether the perpetrator has a criminal record, the victim's situation, the nature of stolen goods, losses and other evidence.

To sum up, the crime of theft and fraud both aim at illegal possession subjectively and infringe on the ownership of public and private property objectively. The only difference is the objective difference, that is, the method of obtaining property is different. Theft and fraud are two very common crimes. In general, it is not difficult to distinguish them, but in some complicated judicial practices, it is not so easy to define theft and fraud when there are both fraud factors and theft elements.

Legal basis:

Article 264 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC)

Theft: Whoever steals public or private property in a relatively large amount, or commits theft, burglary, theft with a weapon or pickpocketing for many times, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or only be fined; If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined; If the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or confiscated.

Article 266

If the crime of fraud defrauds public or private property, and the amount is relatively large, it shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or only be fined; If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined; If the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or confiscated. Where there are other provisions in this Law, such provisions shall prevail.