Deceptive Practice in Chicago — Crime Statistics 2026

How common is deceptive practice in Chicago?

Deceptive Practice accounts for 26,201 indexed police reports in Chicago (5.9% of tracked offenses). Data comes from City of Chicago Open Data — Crimes.

How many deceptive practice incidents are in Chicago?

LocalCrimeVault has 26,201 indexed deceptive practice reports in Chicago, sourced from City of Chicago Open Data — Crimes.

What share of deceptive practice reports lead to arrest?

In our most recent sample of 14 deceptive practice records, 1 (7.1%) include an arrest flag in the source data.

How often is deceptive practice data updated?

Chicago crime records sync nightly from the open-data portal. New reports appear on type and incident pages after the sync and deploy pipeline completes.

What is bunco crime?

Bunco is the traditional police term for a confidence game or swindle — tricking a victim into handing over money or valuables through deception, like fake lottery winnings, phony contractors, or street-corner cons. Many police departments once ran dedicated "bunco squads." In Chicago PD open data, bunco-style scams are classified as deceptive practice with the description "fraud or confidence game."

Is identity theft a deceptive practice?

Yes. Financial identity theft — using someone else’s personal information to obtain credit, money, or goods — is one of the most common deceptive-practice descriptions in Chicago crime data, split by whether the loss exceeds $300.