Page 542 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Perpetrators

Median Loss Based on Gender
Males not only are responsible for a larger number of frauds than females, but they also generally cause larger losses.
In our 2016 data, the median loss caused by a male fraudster was $187,000, while the median loss caused by a female
was $100,000. As Figure 81 shows, we have consistently seen a large gap between male and female median fraud
losses.

Figure 81: Gender of Perpetrator—Median Loss

$250,000

$200,000 $200,000 $185,000 $187,000
MEDIAN L OSS $150,000 $91,000 $100,000

$100,000
$83,000
2016
$50,000
2014
2012
$0
Female Male
GENDER OF PERPETRATOR

Position of Perpetrator Based on Gender
One possible explanation for the gender disparity in fraud losses could be related to position of authority. As shown in
Figure 65 on page 49, higher levels of authority are correlated with larger fraud losses (e.g., owner/executives tend to
commit larger frauds than managers, and managers tend to commit larger frauds than employees). As Figure 82 shows,
the proportion of male fraudsters increases as we move up the organizational chart. Only 58.9% of employee-level
fraudsters were male, but that figure rose to 73% among managers and 83% among owner/executives. Given this dis-
tribution, we would expect the median fraud loss for males to be quite a bit higher than for females.

Figure 82: Position of Perpetrator Based on Gender 58.9% 41.1%

POSITION OF PERPETRATOR Owner/Executive 73.0% 83.0% 27.0% Male
Employee

Manager

17.0%
50%
60%
0%
30%
20%
10%
40%
PERCENT OF CASES 70% 80% 90% 100% Female

58 REPORT TO THE NATIONS ON OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD AND ABUSE