You Just Got Cheated: Understanding White-Collar Crime

Most of us have been victims of frauds and related crimes at some point or the other in our lives. We may not have answers to pertinent questions such as: Who is responsible for the fraud committed? Why do people commit white collar crimes? What makes us vulnerable to such crimes? Who could have prevented the crime? What could individuals and entities do to prevent the crime in future and what action should we take to recover the losses? Unlike street crimes where victims are clearly identified and their losses and concerns are suitably recorded and attended to, the victims of White Collar Crimes are not given proper attention and many times such crimes are considered to be ‘victim less’. This book attempts to examine the above questions by analyzing various types of white collar crimes, drawing examples of such crimes that have happened across the world. History reveals that crimes travel across the globe in time as criminals learn from each other for their criminal indulgences. We hear about a crime elsewhere – in a different city or a country - and within no time you find the same thing happening with necessary improvisation in our own neighborhood. When the corporate criminals, opportunist and greedy public servants join hands, to indulge in various types of crimes, the regulatory enforcement becomes lax, farce and ineffective. In the end, the victims – the public who were adversely impacted, the shareholders who lost their investments, the consumers who got a raw deal, the employees who lost their jobs and the financiers who lost what they lent – suffer without any recourse. The book culminates with two chapters exclusively on answering questions such as - Why do people commit white collar crime? Why do people fall victim to white collar crime and how to curb this menace? The book concludes with an analysis of whistleblowers and the related challenges and safeguards. As scams and frauds perpetuate, there is a need for a systematic analysis of the pattern, the impact and the preventive steps. The insights given in the book would be helpful for professionals as well as common citizens.