A Critical Overview of the Geometry of Fraud and a Model Proposal within the Framework of Situational Action Theory

Abstract

Geometric metaphors have been used in fraud theory for more than 60 years. The most commonly used of these metaphors is the fraud triangle. The fraud triangle has been criticized severely for its scope, substitutability of its elements, perceptuality, individuality and one-sidedness. Different models developed afterwards tried to cover the shortcomings of the fraud triangle with additions and modifications, but none of them became as popular as the fraud triangle. In this study, by moving away from the use of geometric metaphors, which has become a traditional approach in explaining the structure and causality of fraud, a model based on Situational Action Theory (SAT) is proposed. The aim of the study is to reveal that fraud has a complex and multi-dimensional structure that cannot be explained with one-dimensional metaphors, and in this context, to develop a theoretical model expressed in a mathematical formula for measuring fraud risk.