Agreed. By this logic, if it can even be called that, no one could ever be taken advantage of, because they agreed to be defrauded.

If you agree to take a job for $100k, and your colleague decided to hold out for $120k, who exactly is defrauding you?

Salary negotiations are not fraud. Fraud involves being promised something and not getting what you agree to.

If someone says they’ll give you X in exchange for Y and then they do exactly that, that isn’t fraud.

Inalienable rights cannot be signed or bargained away, even if the rights-holder wills it. One cannot agree to slavery or indentured servitude in USA.

Now change the numbers to $8k and $9k.

You mean someone gives you $8k in exchange for $9k? Still not fraud. A bad deal you’d be stupid to take, but what is fraudulent about it?

I’m not sure you understand what the word fraud means.

No.