Abstract
Purpose Fraudulent criminal behavior is relatively commonplace and affects millions of victims each year. Even so, many of these crimes are undetected and unreported and thus understanding the connection between committing a fraudulent crime and being processed through the criminal justice system has been difficult to ascertain. The current study aimed to address this gap in the literature by examining the association between self-reported involvement in credit card fraud and check fraud and being arrested and incarcerated. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative sample of American youth, to address these issues (N ranging between 10,322 and 12,445 across statistical models). Findings Overall, the results revealed a statistically significant association between all measures of fraudulent criminal behavior and the odds of being arrested and incarcerated. Research limitations/implications The authors conclude by discussing various interpretations of these results and offering suggestions for future research. Practical implications Engaging in fraudulent behavior increases the risk of being arrested. Engaging in fraudulent behavior increases the risk of being incarcerated. Although fraud is often under-reported and difficult to identify the perpetrators, fraudulent offenders are often processed through the criminal justice system. Understanding more about the nature of fraud and fraudsters may further enhance the effectiveness of identifying and processing these offenders. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides some of the first evidence on the connection between engaging in fraud and being processed through the criminal justice system when analyzing a longitudinal and nationally representative sample.