White Collar Crime – Atlanta

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary describes white collar crime as “a variety of non-violent financial crimes committed by business people or public officials, involving commercial fraud, consumer fraud, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement, bribery, or other dishonest schemes.” Today we usually associate the term with individuals like Bernie Madoff, a stock broker who “made off” with billions of dollars of his clients money by turning his wealth management business into a humongous Ponzi scheme. However, white collar crime is far more often perpetrated on a less grand scale.

Consumer fraud, for example, can involve anything from bait and switch practices to full blown identity theft. This type of fraud can take place in person, over the telephone, or online. As technology continues to improve at a supersonic rate, many businesses are turning to the internet to give their customers more ease and versatility in acquiring their product. Look, you’re on it right now! As a result, internet fraud has risen faster than any other in the last few years. No business is too large or too small to fall victim to these types of crimes.

Computer fraud, credit card fraud, embezzlement and plain old theft all fall under the umbrella of white collar crime . What motivates people to commit these types of crimes? The same thing that (more than likely) motivated you to go into business in the first place: money. How do you safeguard your business and your customers against these crimes? Education and awareness are key. Inform yourself, be proactive, and enlist the services of a professional. The best way to prevent white collar crimes is to build barriers, or checks and balances, which limit the opportunity for those crimes to occur.

For more information about employee theft ,  white collar crime investigations contact us at White Collar Crime or call 1.770.426.0547