Over a third of India’s fraudsters are less than 35 years old

Young Indians are increasingly getting into fraud, and that’s not good news. Global Consultancy firm KPMG’s latest report titled 'Global Profiles Of Fraudsters', has pointed out that a whopping 32% of India’s fraudsters are in the 26-35 years age bracket. The figure is way higher than the 14% of the rest of the world.

The report that is based on an analysis of 750 fraudsters across 81 countries. Over 56 of the 750 fraudsters profiled for this year’s survey are from India. 77% of all Indian fraudsters were noted to be motivated by greed. What’s more alarming is that these people turn to fraud much earlier in their careers. Globally, people choose a life of fraud only after they’re well settled in their jobs.

Contrary to the popular myth of fraudsters being unfriendly loners depending on their own ingenuity to perpetuate the crime, 62.5% of fraudsters in India were seen to be sociable and preferred acting in collusion with internal or external members of the firm.

Misappropriation of assets was noted as the most common type of fraud in the country. It accounts for about 43% of India's frauds, and the biggest reason for that were weak internal controls. Weak anti-fraud protocol was another notable reason.

While India has been India’s stronghold globally, the trend carries forward in fraud as well. Tech-enabled fraud stands at 33% in India against the global 24%. It’s safe to presume Indian fraudsters are savvier when it comes to tech. 69% fraudsters in India were able to override the internal controls. This is the very technology put in place to hinder such fraud.

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