Page 155 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Position of Perpetrator The Perpetrator’s Annual Income
Frequency
Just as fraud losses tended to rise based on the perpetra-
tor’s level of authority within an organization, we also
Owner/
Executive found that there was a positive correlation between the
perpetrators’ annual income and the size of fraud losses.
19.3% Manager As incomes rose, so did fraud losses. The median loss for
Employee employees in the lowest classification was $75,000, where-
39.5% as the median loss for the employees with the highest
yearly incomes — $500,000 or more — was $8 million.
This data correlates with our previous findings on how a
fraudster’s position within the victim organization influ-
41.2%
ences loss. We would expect that the employees with the
highest levels of authority would generally be the highest
paid as well. Thus, we believe annual income is only a sec-
ondary factor influencing loss.

Median Loss Based on Perpetrator’s Annual Income

$1,000,0000
$9,000,000 $8,000,000
$8,000,000
$7,000,000
Median Loss $5,000,000
$6,000,000

$4,000,000
$3,000,000
$2,000,000 $1,000,000 $1,100,000
$526,000
$1,000,000 $75,000 $173,000
$0
<$50,000 $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 $500,000+
-$99,999 -$149,999 -$199,999 -$499,999
Perpetrator’s Income

ACFE Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse