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A frameup refers to the act of "framing" someone, that is, providing false evidence in order to prove someone guilty of a crime. Sometimes the person who is framing someone else is the actual perpetrator of the crime. In some other cases it is an attempt by law enforcement to neutralize a criminal who has escaped conviction, or to remove a political dissident. Some criminals will attempt to falsely claim they were framed as a defense strategy.
The term comes from the criminal subculture, with an early version being the claim that "someone is trying to put me in the frame," as in a picture frame.
Although frameups usually occur by creating false evidence, sometimes people will employ identity theft instead as it is often cheaper to take advantage of lax computer security than go through the trouble of impersonating someone else physically, because many usual behaviors must be recorded and practiced in order to create realistic evidence.
Frameups in fiction
An innocent party trying to prove that they have been framed for a crime is a popular theme in literature, film, and television. Perhaps the most famous example of such a storyline was the TV series, The Fugitive, later remade into a 1993 film starring Harrison Ford as the doctor trying to prove that it was not he who killed his wife, but rather a one-armed man who set him up.
See also
- Identity theft
- framing (communication theory) (The concept)
"Frameup"