Charles Ponzi, Jeffrey Skilling, Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay…some names of infamous financial fraudsters. Each having their crippling effects on families, communities, and our beautiful nation.

When we hear stories about Enron or the Madoff pyramid, we usually spend lots of time debunking the ways they used to attract and lure investors. We also tend to look a lot at the damage dealt. The jobs that were lost, the people who lost their savings, and families that went into bankruptcy and might not ever recover.

We rarely tend to spend much time on the question, why? Why did they do the things they did. Maybe we don’t spend much time because we think the answer is simple, evil greed. They wanted to make tons of money and get rich at other people’s expense. But how do we know that? What if money is secondary? Surely at some point, after amassing tremendous wealth, money becomes insensitive. Maybe they keep doing it because they can’t stop? Or because they’ll get caught?

I think many fraudulent acts don’t happen for the money. They happen as a result of superiority and ego. It’s an act to prove that “I know the rules so well, I can find ways to exploit them”. It strokes an adventurous nerve within individuals to explore and see whether their “plan” would be successful and people would fall for it without anyone raising suspicion. And if it succeeds, it leads to a “I’m much more intelligent than everyone else” moment. That feeling or thought, is extremely satisfying and addicting. The ego and superiority mentality also leads to numbness regarding rules and/or consequences. “I’m too smart to get caught”, and every second that is true, it is only fueling the fraudsters ego.

I think there is a solution to this. How about a recognition that rewards members of society who find these loopholes? Some companies actually reward hackers who can hack their database. Instead of bringing out the narcissism in global fraudsters, it’s important to bring a sense of reward. Maintaining the importance and brilliance of the individual while highlighting the significance of the persons finding and the potential avoidance that it is saving others from.