Profiling the modern white-collar criminal: An overview of Utah’s white-collar crime registry

Abstract

White-collar crime continues to be a central challenge for individuals, organizations, and consumers. Due to the substantial social harm caused by white-collar crime, there has been a focus on prevention and detection strategies, including profiling offenders in an effort to understand their motives, targets, and modus operandi. Despite advances in profiling white-collar offenders, these profiles have relied heavily on the same thirty-year-old, federal-level database limited to major urban areas, which may obscure changes in the sociodemographics of white-collar offenders. Based on Utah’s more recent White-Collar Crime Registry, this article seeks to better identify the profiles of modern white-collar offenders. Our findings uncovered three distinct types of white-collar criminals: The Tech Scammer, the Ponzi Schemer, and the Insurance Fraudster. Despite the registry’s limitations as a database, we offer recommendations regarding the prevention and detection of such offenders. With a more in-depth understanding of the modern white-collar criminal, managers will be better positioned to manage white-collar crime in the workplace.