Profiling The Fraudster: Removing the Mask to Prevent and Detect Fraud

Chapter 10Motivation and Opportunity as Key Indicators

ALTHOUGH IT IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED that employee dishonesty is a serious issue and costs many organizations a lot of money and possibly reputational damage, the causes have for some time attracted relatively little research and attention. From almost every aspect, technology has made fraud deeper, more complex, and more expensive. Criminologists have looked at fraud causes from many angles, but most have focused on the need for money and opportunity. The motivation for fraud is deeper than this and forms the backbone to profiling.

Today's criminologists explain fraud in terms of three factors: a supply of motivated potential offenders, the availability of suitable target organizations, and the absence of effective control systems.

The Motivation

There are various discussions surrounding why offenders are motivated. Are we all potential offenders, only on the straight and narrow because the internal controls are solid, the external watchdogs have sharp teeth, or the targets are insufficiently cash rich?

Reasons for offending may be topped by debt and greed, but boredom, retaliation, getting back at the boss or the organization, weak life structure, and being blackmailed have also been given by convicted fraudsters as justifications, with many stating that a culture of corruption in their organization had fueled their offending. Others felt that they had been poorly treated or not supported by their employer. Sometimes low ...