contract-law england-and-wales tort any-jurisdiction consideration
Are there any crimes or civil wrongs in disingenuously wasting another’s time?
<p>Suppose that one phones you and states that they have a Nigerian princes inheritance which they would like to arrange to send to you.</p>
<p>Or that they <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/81170/what-are-the-legal-implications-of-josh-pieters-archie-mannerss-gag-against">would like to donate some money</a> to your organisation or work.</p>
<p>In either case the true purpose is to create a candid camera video for the purpose of mocking and deriding you.</p>
<p>You travel across town and spend your time meeting them to discuss the particulars before finding out that the entire thing was a ruse.</p>
<p>Because the proposal was of a gift then there may be said that there was no “consideration,” but how does this factor with the fact that you are in fact measurably worse off (as for a tube fare and an afternoon of your time) for the antic being a ruse?</p>
<p>Does this aspect of it render the act more of a civil wrong or even a crime?</p>

<p>Depending on who said what, it may be <em>attempted fraud.</em> This would not exactly punish the wasted time, it would punish the attempt to do something more serious. Just how a legal system deals with <em>unsuccessful attempts</em> of a crime can be interesting in theory and practice -- can anyone prove that the Nigerian prince planned to follow up with a fraud, or could he claim that he was just boasting to inflate his ego?</p>
<p><a href="/questions/tagged/germany" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;germany&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="tag-germany-tooltip-container">germany</a> <a href="https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__263.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§263 StGB</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>(1) A person who [...] misleads another person by making false claims [...] for the own [...] financial advantage [...] shall be punished [...]<br />
<strong>(2) The attempt is punishable.</strong><br />
(My translation, reordering parts of the first section to create readable English.)</p>
</blockquote>
