Page 452 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Perpetrator’s Age
The age distribution of the fraudsters in our study is shown in Figure 55. This distribution is very similar to those
of our previous studies, with approximately 52% of perpetrators between the ages of 31 and 45.

While the age distribution of fraudsters fits a bell curve model, the median loss of frauds tends to rise with the age
of the perpetrator, as seen in Figure 56. In our 2014 data, the rise was fairly gradual and consistent as ages increased.
In 2010 and 2012, we saw certain outlier categories where median losses jumped significantly (in the >60 age range
for 2010 and in the 51-55 age range for 2012). Overall, however, the data seem to show that older fraudsters tend to
generate larger losses. This is probably an indirect reflection of the fact that high-level personnel within an organiza-
tion tend to be older than lower-level employees. For example, 36% of the fraudsters in our study who were over 50
years of age were owners/executives, while only 15% of those who were 50 or younger were owners/executives.

Figure 55: Age of Perpetrator — Frequency

25%

20% 19.3% 19.3% 19.6%
18.0% 17.6% 18.1%
16.1% 16.1% 15.9% 14.6%
PERCENT OF CASES 10% 9.6% 9.8% 11.3% 13.7% 13.5% 9.4% 9.0% 9.8%
15%

5.2% 5.8% 5.2% 5.2% 5.4%
5% 3.9%
3.1% 3.4% 2014
2.2%
2012
0% 2010
<26 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 >60
AGE OF PERPETRATOR
Figure 56: Age of Perpetrator — Median Loss

$1,000,000
$900,000 $974,000
$800,000
$700,000 $600,000
$600,000
MEDIAN LOSS $500,000 $428,000 $450,000

$400,000
$300,000 $270,000 $265,000 $200,000 $190,000 $321,000 9.8% $200,000 $232,000 $238,000 $250,000
$200,000 $120,000 $100,000 $127,000 $150,000 $168,000 $183,000 $153,000 5.2% 2014
$100,000 $15,000 $25,000 $35,000 $60,000 $50,000 $57,000 $90,000 2012
$0 2010
<26 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 >60
AGE OF PERPETRATOR

48 REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE