Control Fraud

“Control frauds” are seemingly legitimate entities controlled by persons that use them as a fraud “weapon.”1 The controlled entity is both perpetrator and victim of the fraud.

A lot of “algorithmic accountability” discussions bring control fraud to mind for me. Is it useful to think of an algorithm as something like a corporation? A seemingly legitimate entity used to do things that would be illegal if done directly?

Footnotes:

1

William K. Black, “Epidemics of ’Control Fraud’ Lead to Recurrent, Intensifying Bubbles and Crises,” SSRN Scholarly Paper (Rochester, NY, April 15, 2010), https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1590447.