What is the difference between fraud and error?

Fraud is a delibrate act done by a cunning person to mislead people about the truth and seriously hurt the intended person or organisation, which if caught, could end up in jail. 

Eg : Embezzlement / Misappropriation of cash, stealing from the company resources and showing that the stock was not received or damaged due to unknown reasons etc...

Errors (either major or minor) are made unknowingly (also called mistakes) by anyone who lacks knowledge or due to oversight on the part of the individual, which if caught, can be corrected by taking appropriate measures to prevent it from happening again. 

Eg : Typing errors, Missing out on the formula in excel etc....

Errors aren’t deliberate.
An error represents an unintentional misstatement of the financial statement.
it may be material or immaterial.
Fraud represents an intentional misstatement of the financial statement which can be material or immaterial.
Fraud takes place when you find evidence of intent to mislead.
Fraud occurs when someone purposefully produces deceptive data.Fraud can take the form of the falsification or alteration of accounting records or the financial statements.

Fraud is intentional Error is unintentional

الغش بكل أنواعه يؤدي لفساد المجتمع وتدهوره لذلك يجب مكافحته ووقفه واسئصاله نهائيا

fraud is an act which is done with self knowledge to evade something and also to cheat the other person whereas error is commited with good intention without a reason to harm anybody 

Misstatements can be the result of error or a fraud.

Fraud can be defined as: Any illegal acts characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust. These acts are not dependent upon the application  of threat or of physical force. Frauds are perpetrated by parties and organizations to obtain money, property, or services; to avoid payment or loss of services; or to secure personal or business advantage.

Errors are just the mistake or misstatement or unintentional deviation from the truth. An act or condition of ignorant or imprudent deviation from a code of behavior

By Ibrahim Alhaji Bangura, Studying Accounting and Finance at the Fourah Bay College West Africa, Sierra Leone. Fraud can be analytically describe as the intentional misrepresentation of financial information with the intention to deceive. Or Fraud can take place in the form of 1-Manipulation of Accounts 2-Misappropriation of goods 3-Misappropriation of cash etc. It is of great importance for the auditor to detect any frauds, and prevent their recurrence. Whilst Errors refers to the unintentional mistake in the financial information, arising on account of ignorance of accounting principle. They may include Principle error, errors arising out on negligence by the accounting staff, ie clerical errors.