1,202. Oppression

182:3 Stealing something with the intention of returning it, either to tease someone or as a joke, is nevertheless prohibited.

182:4 It is forbidden to oppress another person even a small amount as per Leviticus 19:13, "Do not oppress your neighbor." What constitutes oppression? If one person has another's money in his possession with permission, like a loan or rent, and he doesn't want to give it to him so he pushes the money's owner off by repeatedly telling him to come back later.

Since the verse says "your neighbor," this prohibition technically applies only to other Jews except for the fact that not conducting business in a straightforward manner would cause a desecration of G-d's Name. Therefore, if someone finds an object that was lost by a non-Jew, he is not allowed to deny it as this would be considered stealing. Not only that, if someone bought an item, it is forbidden to mislead the non-Jewish seller in calculating the amount of money he must pay. Leviticus 25:50 says, "you shall calculate with the buyer," referring to a non-Jewish purchaser. The reason for this is that the seller consents to the transaction for the agreed-upon price. To cause him to err in the calculation would therefore be considered theft.

Even deception that doesn't cause someone to lose money is prohibited in business transactions, as was discussed in chapter 63.