The New Fraud Triangle Model

Abstract

Fraud in corporations is a topic that receives significant and growing attention from regulators, auditors, and the public. Increasingly external auditors are being asked to play an important role in helping organizations prevent and detect fraud. Detecting fraud is not an easy task and requires thorough knowledge about the nature of fraud, how it can be committed and concealed. This paper aims at broadening external auditors’ knowledge about fraud and why it occurs. It explains Cressey’s fraud theory and shows its significance, presents the other fraud models and relates them to Cressey’s model, and proposes a new fraud triangle model that external auditors could consider when assessing the risk of fraud.

Keywords: fraud, fraud triangle, Cressey’s fraud theory, fraud models, fraud detection

JEL Classification: M40, M41