Typically, occupational frauds fall into one of three major categories:6
Asset misappropriation—Any scheme that involves the theft or misuse of an organization's assets, e.g., use of software and software licenses purchased by the company for personal use or financial gain
Corruption—Any scheme in which a person uses his/her influence in a business transaction to obtain an unauthorized benefit contrary to that person's duty to his/her employer, e.g., awarding outsourcing IT equipment maintenance services to the vendor that provides cash and/or gifts
Fraudulent statement—The falsification of an organization's financial statement to make it appear more or less profitable, e.g., spending to adjust the average revenue per user (ARPU) figure of the telecommunications operator