Page 157 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

The Effect of Age The Effect of Education

The frauds in our study were committed by persons rang- As employees’ education levels rose, so did the losses from
ing in age from 16 to 80. We found a strong correlation be- their frauds. The median loss in schemes committed by
tween the age of the perpetrator and the size of the median those with only a high school education was $100,000,
loss, which was consistent with our findings from previ- whereas the median loss caused by employees with a post-
ous Reports. Although there were very few cases commit- graduate education was $425,000. This trend was to be
ted by employees over the age of 60 (2.8%), the median expected given that those with higher education levels will
loss in those schemes was $713,000. By comparison, the tend to occupy positions with higher levels of authority.
median loss in frauds committed by those 25 or younger
was $25,000. As with income and gender, we believe age is Education of Perpetrator
most likely a secondary factor in predicting the loss associ- Frequency and Median Loss
ated with an occupational fraud, generally reflecting the $500,000
perpetrator’s position and tenure within an organization.

$400,000
While frauds committed by those in the highest age
groups were the most costly on average, over two-thirds $425,000
of the frauds reported were committed by employees in $300,000
the 31-50 age group. The median age among perpetrators Median Loss
was 42. $200,000 $100,000

$100,000 $200,000 $200,000

$0
High School Some Bachelor Postgraduate
Graduate College Degree Degree
(32.8%) (21.6%) (33.4%) (12.2%)
Education Level
(percent of cases)

Age of the Perpetrator

$800,000
$700,000 $713,000
$600,000
Median Loss $400,000 $350,000
$500,000

$300,000
$200,000 $250,000
$134,000 $135,000
$100,000 $50,000
$25,000
$0
<26 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-50 51-60 >60
(6.1%) (8.8%) (16.1%) (16.4%) (34.6%) (15.3%) (2.8%)
Age (percent of cases)

ACFE Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse