I have written about the psychology of fraudsters before, but it is always a good topic.
Someone once said that they would rather live next to a Mexican drug lord than next to a white collar fraudster. The reason is that most drug lords understand that what they are doing is wrong and illegal. They don't try and rationalize their actions, but rather understand that if they are caught, they are looking at jail time or worse. Such drug lords are generally just trying to earn money, albeit illegally (NOTE - this does not mean, of course, that such people are often violent and/or psychotic).
White collar fraudsters, however, usually operate under a sense of entitlement. They believe not only that their actions are not criminal, but rather that they deserve the money they are stealing. Many white collar fraudsters actually believe that they are working for the best interests of others when they steal a company's profits. Many such individuals cannot or will not grasp the fundamental idea that by using deceit to take the monies, their must be something wrong or unethical in the way the money is earned.
In short, the capacity of white collar fraudsters to rationalize is amazing.
Rationalization is one part of the fraud triangle, an essential tool in understanding fraud. We will discuss this next time. But, for now: the factors, which comprise the three points of the so-called fraud triangle, are:
- A perceived pressure facing the person
- A perceived opportunity to commit fraud
- The person's rationalization or integrity
NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE NOR
IS IT INTENDED TO BE LEGAL ADVICE. IF
THE READER HAS ANY LEGAL QUESTIONS, PLEASE REFER TO AN ATTORNEY.
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tausk
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