Comment by Nasrudith

The difference is intent. A company could be run by a crackpot who sincerely believes that he can create a food replicator and states irrelevant qualifications. His process involves spending day after day drawing paper schematics and putting it in a literal black box. It would never work and couldn't be manufactured but it wouldn't be fraud.

Making the same claims of goals and taking the money and running? Fraud.