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

Chapter 1Introduction to Occupational Fraud and Corruption and Recent Trends

WHEN I STARTED WRITING THIS BOOK, I considered jumping in at the deep end and commenced rapidly making notes of the various approaches to profiling by compiling a list, based on my 20 or so years of experience in the fraud investigation field, of exactly what, when profiled, would be of use to the fraud investigator. Yes, there is the behavior of the convicted fraudster to understand as well as his modus operandi, but what about which industry type or department he is likely to work in, his likely position within the organization, the likely geographical location, economic environment, and personal circumstances? We also need to understand the profile of higher risk victim organizations and their characteristics. Anyway, I quickly realized that to fully understand the subject of profiling we first need to have a fairly good grounding in or understanding of the subject of fraud and corruption—what it is and how it affects organizations and all of us who are associated with those organizations. It is also, possibly even more so, very important to understand the types of controls that are designed, put in place, and often bypassed to enable us to manage fraud risk in organizations. After all, fraud is perpetrated by human beings as a reaction to opportunities created by weak safeguarding processes. Profiling is a further antifraud methodology to add to the stable, and it does require an understanding of ...