Who's Most Likely to Commit Fraud?

What do Bernie Madoff, R. Allen Stanford and most of the other names that make the papers for perpetrating fraud have in common? That's right, they're men. More often than not they're also white men. Make that white men in management positions with advanced degrees.

So, who is most likely to commit fraud? Yeah, those guys (75% of those who committed fraud were men). Or at least guys very much like them. That is according to the results of a recent KPMG study that surveyed senior executives including CFOs and vice-presidents, across Canada, to find where the fraudsters lurk in corporate cultures. That the scamers were white wasn't actually among the study's results, but it's Canada, so of course they're white.

Strangely, an article published in this week's Business in Vancouver reports: Uneducated men in their 30s and 40s are among the most likely people to commit fraud.

The facts on this are a little confusing, according to the article: About 40% of fraudsters had no post-secondary education; 30% did. What about the remaining 30%? Did they have some post-secondary education? Were they raised by wolves without any formal education?

The report's credibility came under further question when it reported: Almost 70% of fraud cases were inside jobs; 20% involved outsiders. Eleven per cent involved both insiders and outsiders, according to the report. Almost 75% of fraudsters acted alone.

How could eleven percent of fraud involve both insiders and outsiders, if almost 70% were inside jobs and "20% involved outsiders"? 70%+20%+11%=101%

Maybe these guys didn't actually mean to commit fraud, they just never learned math.