ABSTRACT
One of the easiest ways to make money is to stop losing it. This chapter examines the true costs of fraud and corruption, who is involved and why, what makes a good fraud detective and what are the incentives for being one. There are many surveys and exercises done across the world which try to measure the costs of fraud and corruption, all in different ways. In general, most surveys go along with the majority, the real cost of corruption and fraud is pretty high. There are three fundamental factors which enable people to engage in unethical behaviour for a benefit: motivation, opportunity, and rationalization. The chapter examines five traditional defences against fraud and corruption in turn: a tsunami of rules and regulations to comply with; the expectations of people charged with protecting organizations; blaming the so-called ‘corrupt countries’; waiting for the whistleblowers; and punishment as a deterrent.
