There are absolutely no hard and fast rules for all of the characteristics of individuals who commit occupational fraud. Every single person has his or her own traits and motivations. However, there are some characteristics that are common to many fraudsters.
These characteristics were identified by criminologist Donald R. Cressey while he studied embezzlers. He created an hypothesis known as the ‘fraud triangle.’ The three sides of the fraud triangle are:
- Rationalization – Since the majority of individuals who commit serious occupation fraud are not career criminals, they feel a strong need to justify their actions.
- Opportunity – Access to company assets and a lack of internal controls that will prevent immediate detection of the fraud.
- Pressure – This is a financial need (real or perceived) that the individual cannot share with others due to potential shame or loss of social status.
When these three sides of the triangle are present, there is a much higher than normal chance of an individual committing a fraud.
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