Is It A Defense That the Victim Should Have Known Better?

It does not matter if the other person should have known better. Even if a reasonable person would have known you were lying or misleading them, you can still be charged with theft by deception. This law was created to protect vulnerable individuals from being taken advantage of. Most importantly, the deceived person relied on the deceiver’s words or actions. Victims of theft by deception are often the elderly or mentally incompetent people.