A.B.C.'s of Behavioral Forensics: Applying Psychology to Financial Fraud Prevention and Detection

CHAPTER 4

Beyond the Fraud Triangle and into the Mind

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BEHAVIORAL FORENSICS—UNDERSTANDING HOW THE BASICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR TIE INTO FRAUD

Despite our best wishes, fraud is not going away; it is here to stay. Human beings are creative, determined, artistic, charming, and intelligent. In many ways these traits serve us very well. They provide us with music, literature, movies, and creative solutions in our day-to-day lives. The smartphone is an example of all of these wonderful human traits coming together into something quite remarkable, delightful, and useful.

Yet these same traits are a double-edged sword, and they can also be instruments of harm. Fraud is one of many ways that human beings tear others down and betray trust. But we are not alone among living creatures in this ability.

Deception Is a Natural Phenomenon

Fraud is theft, but not by force. There is perhaps no aspect of fraud more important than this. There is no robbery at gunpoint, no direct threat of harm to the victim or the victim's loved ones. Rather, the victim willingly gives away money or something of value.

Fraud is a deception, and deception is natural. Many living creatures, both animal and plant, survive and thrive because of their methods of deception. From the viceroy butterfly, which looks like the bitter and mildly poisonous monarch butterfly, to the king snake, which closely mirrors the very deadly coral snake, to the cuckoo, which brazenly lays her egg in a crow's nest and abdicates ...