Fraudsters who display at least one behavioural ‘red flag’, such as financial troubles or living beyond their means, cause higher losses on average compared to fraudsters who do not show any. That’s among the findings fromย Occupational Fraud 2026: A Report to the Nations, the latest edition of the biennial study from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), which examines 2,402 cases of occupational fraud investigated by Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) across 143 countries.
ACFE Chief Executive Officer, John Warren said: “”Prevention is so valuable in combatting any type of fraud, and within workplaces, fraud prevention must be a collaborative effort across employee levels. Part of fraud prevention is knowing what to look out for, and this report provides a big picture of the different aspects of occupational fraud and its impacts.”
The year 2026 marks 30 years of such reports; hence the association makes some comparisons.
“The world has changed so much in the last 30 years, and fraud has evolved with it,” said Warren. “Some aspects of the occupational fraud landscape have stayed the same over the years, but there have also been some staggering increases.”
Corruption has risen significantly, up from 10pc to 45pc of cases. Median fraud losses by organization size have remained mostly consistent, with small businesses and large corporations continuing to face the most fraud losses, and tenured fraudsters causing more financial damage.
Meanwhile, the gender divide between fraudsters has shifted. The percentage of female perpetrators grew from 25pc to 28pc in the cases observed in each study. However, the gap in median fraud losses between these two groups has shrunk, reinforcing the knowledge that fraud can be committed by any employee. The reports suggest also a shift in the tenure of fraud perpetrators. In 1996, staff-level employees were more likely to commit fraud (58pc), followed by managers (30pc) and owners-executives (12pc). In 2026, both employees and managers committed fraud in 41pc of cases, while 16pc of fraudsters were found to be owners/executives.
Among the findings
Findings from the report include (all figures in US dollars):
-CFEs estimate that five per cent of revenue is lost to fraud each year.
-The median fraud loss per case in the study was $104,000, but the average loss per case was $1,457,000. One in five of cases in the study had losses of more than $1 million.
-A typical fraud case lasted 12 months before detection. In this yearโs study, some 43pc of frauds were detected after a tip was reported, and more than half of those tips came from employees.
-Most, 68pc of fraudsters were terminated by their employers, while 54pc of the cases examined were referred to law enforcement.
About ACFE
The US-based association has its annual conference in July in Boston, Massachusetts. You can download the study at ACFE.com/RTTN.
