There are two key reasons why this type of crime is so prevalent. The first is that any organization with employees must, to some extent, entrust those employees with access to or control over its assets, whether that means keeping its books, managing its bank accounts, safeguarding its inventory, etc. It is this very trust that can make organizations vulnerable to occupational fraud. Because all frauds, at their heart, are based upon breaches of trust. The second reason occupational fraud is so costly and common is simply that there are so many people in a position to commit these crimes. The global labor force consists of more than 3.3 billion people, a large majority of whom will never steal or abuse the trust of their employers. But if even a tiny percentage of these individuals cross the line, the result is millions of occupational fraud schemes being committed annually. We do not know precisely how many people engage in occupational fraud each year, but we know that the collective harm these criminals inflict is enormous. As you will see in this report, global losses are likely measured in trillions of dollars. This represents money that could have been spent creating jobs, producing goods and services, or providing public services. Instead, it went into the pockets of fraudsters. The data contained in Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations represents our best effort to understand and measure the impact of occupational fraud. Based on 2,110 cases of occupational fraud that were investigated between January 2020 and September 2021, we have compiled statistics on the methods used to commit these crimes, the means by which they were detected, the characteristics of both the victims and the perpetrators, and the ways in which victim organizations responded after the frauds were detected. This report is based on data that was supplied to us by Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) throughout the world who took part in the 2021 Global Fraud Survey. Each CFE who participated in the study was presented with an online questionnaire consisting of 77 detailed questions about a fraud case the CFE had personally investigated. We are deeply grateful to the CFEs who took part in this survey and shared information so that others could benefit from their experiences. This report is, in many ways, a testament to the dedication and generosity of those CFEs. The frauds represented in this study were committed in 133 countries, and they targeted organizations in 23 distinct industry categories. They attacked large multinational businesses, small private companies, government agencies, nonprofits, and every other size or type of organization imaginable. This report truly is a global study of occupational fraud, and as its results make clear, no organization is immune from these crimes.