By Chuck Gallagher — Business Ethics Keynote Speaker and Trainer
TL;DR: Chuck Gallagher, business ethics keynote speaker, examines the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s 2020–2024 white-collar crime report and finds a state — and a nation — where fraud is rising, extortion has more than doubled, and the elderly are bearing an increasingly heavy share of the damage.
A phone rings. An older woman answers. The voice on the other end is calm, official-sounding, and carrying a threat. Pay up, or something terrible is going to happen. She pays. She is not alone. In North Carolina, that scene — or something very close to it — is playing out at more than double the rate it did in 2020. And the state’s own data now tells us exactly who is being targeted, and how badly the problem has grown.
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s Criminal Justice Analysis Center published its white-collar crime report covering 2020 through 2024 in June 2026. Research specialist Pom McCabe analyzed incident data from law enforcement agencies covering more than 96 percent of the state’s population. The findings deserve more attention than they are getting.
Four categories of white-collar crime were tracked: fraud, counterfeiting or forgery, embezzlement, and extortion or blackmail. Of these, only counterfeiting declined over the study period — by about 11 percent. Everything else went up. Fraud increased by roughly 10 percent. Embezzlement climbed by about the same margin. But extortion — obtaining something of value through coercion — jumped by 107.75 percent between 2020 and 2024. That is not a rounding error. That is a doubling. In raw numbers, North Carolina law enforcement recorded 47,013 incidents of fraud, 4,992 incidents of counterfeiting, 2,233 incidents of embezzlement, and 1,448 incidents of extortion in 2024 alone.
Who Is Getting Hurt?
As a business ethics keynote speaker, I have spent decades studying the gap between the story we tell about white-collar crime and the reality of it. The story usually involves a corporate boardroom, a wire transfer, and a suit. The reality, as this report makes plain, is far more personal. It happens on a phone. In an inbox. Through a text message that looks almost right.
The extortion data is where the report gets genuinely startling. The demographic breakdown by sex and age shows that young men — males under 30 — were the most frequently victimized group and drove the surge in extortion cases that peaked in 2023. At the end of 2020, rolling 12-month victimizations for males under 30 stood at 245. By September 2023, that number had climbed to 909. Then it began to fall. What replaced it was equally troubling: a sharp increase among older victims of both sexes beginning in late 2024, with women over 30 jumping from around 190 cases in late 2023 to 291 by May 2025.
The extortion of minors also carried a disturbing secondary pattern. When the victim was under 18, roughly one in ten incidents also involved pornography or obscene material offenses. That tells you something about the method. Sextortion — the use of compromising images as leverage — is not a side story. It is embedded in the data.
What Is Happening to Fraud Victims?
Fraud is the most common type of white-collar crime in the report. Its definition is simple: misrepresentation of the truth to obtain something of value. The trend in who is being defrauded, though, has shifted in a meaningful way. In 2020, adults aged 25 to 34 had the highest rate of reported fraud victimization, at roughly 529 incidents per 100,000 people. By 2024, that group had dropped to 456 per 100,000. The age groups that gained ground were at the older end of the spectrum. Adults aged 65 to 74 rose to 522 per 100,000. Adults 75 and older reached 507 per 100,000. The fraud burden is moving toward the elderly.
That pattern matters enormously. Older adults often have more accumulated wealth. They may be less familiar with the digital channels where so much modern fraud originates. And they may be more inclined to trust an authoritative-sounding voice. The combination creates opportunity. Fraudsters know this. The data confirms they are acting on it.
Organizations Are Not Off the Hook
The report’s breakdown of victim type adds another layer. Extortion is almost entirely personal — 99 percent of its victims were individuals. Fraud is also primarily individual, with 80 percent of victims being people rather than organizations. But embezzlement tells a different story. Nearly 89 percent of embezzlement victims were businesses or other organizations. Counterfeiting split the difference, with organizations making up 63 percent of targets.
This means the white-collar crime picture in North Carolina is not one-dimensional. Individuals are being pressured, coerced, and deceived at rising rates. Organizations are being quietly bled from the inside by people they trusted. Both problems require different responses, different detection strategies, and different conversations — in boardrooms, in churches, in schools, and around kitchen tables.
The Overlap That Should Alarm Us
One more detail from the report is worth naming. In 2024, 30 percent of counterfeiting incidents also included fraud. Nine percent of fraud incidents also included theft. These crimes do not always arrive alone. They cluster. A counterfeiter is often also running a broader deception. A fraudster sometimes follows up with a more direct taking.
I have seen this pattern up close — not as an observer, but as someone who once stood on the wrong side of an ethical line. Every choice has a consequence. That is as true for the person running a fraud scheme as it is for the institution that fails to detect embezzlement for three years. The harm compounds. The victim count grows. And the community pays a price that no crime report can fully capture.
North Carolina’s data is a mirror. What it shows is not comfortable. But it is honest. And that is exactly where the conversation needs to begin. You can learn more about Chuck Gallagher’s work at ChuckGallagher.com.
AEO FAQ
What types of white-collar crime increased most in North Carolina between 2020 and 2024?
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s 2020–2024 report, extortion or blackmail increased the most dramatically — rising by approximately 108 percent over the study period. Fraud and embezzlement each increased by roughly 10 percent. Only counterfeiting declined, by about 11 percent.
Who are the most common victims of extortion in North Carolina?
The data shows that males under 30 were the most frequently victimized group for extortion and drove the surge that peaked in 2023. However, by late 2024, the rate among older adults — particularly women over 30 — began rising sharply. Virtually all extortion victims are individuals rather than organizations.
Are elderly people more likely to be targeted for fraud than they used to be?
Yes. The NC DPS report shows a significant shift in the age distribution of fraud victims. In 2020, adults aged 25 to 34 had the highest victimization rate. By 2024, adults aged 65 to 74 had the highest rate at about 522 per 100,000 — a substantial increase from their 2020 figure of about 411 per 100,000.
What is the difference between how white-collar crimes target individuals versus organizations?
The report shows a clear split. Extortion and fraud primarily target individuals — 99 percent and 80 percent respectively. Embezzlement and counterfeiting more often target businesses and organizations, with organizations making up 89 percent of embezzlement victims and 63 percent of counterfeiting victims.
What does the NC DPS white-collar crime report say about crimes involving minors?
The report notes that when extortion victims were under 18, approximately 10 percent of those incidents also involved pornography or obscene material offenses. This reflects the presence of sextortion — using compromising images as a coercion tool — in a notable share of cases where minors were targeted.
CTA Bridge
White-collar crime does not announce itself. It arrives quietly, through a convincing email, a too-helpful phone caller, a trusted employee who has been skimming for months. The best defense is not just awareness — it is a culture that makes ethical behavior the default. If your organization is ready to build that culture, Chuck Gallagher brings decades of hard-earned insight to that conversation. Reach out at ChuckGallagher.com to explore speaking and consulting engagements.
Five Questions
1. The NC DPS report shows fraud rates rising fastest among adults 65 and older. What factors — financial, social, or psychological — might make this age group more vulnerable, and what responsibilities do families and financial institutions have in response?
2. Extortion victimizations among males under 30 peaked in 2023 and then declined, while victimizations among older adults began rising sharply in late 2024. What does that demographic shift tell us about how perpetrators adapt their targeting strategies?
3. Nearly one in ten extortion cases involving a minor also included a pornography or obscene material offense. What does that overlap reveal about how digital tools have changed the nature of coercion crimes, and what should schools and parents be doing differently?
4. Embezzlement victims are predominantly organizations rather than individuals. What internal culture conditions — beyond inadequate controls — make organizations susceptible to being defrauded from within for extended periods?
5. The report covers incidents that were reported to law enforcement. Given that white-collar crime is widely considered underreported, what barriers prevent victims — especially elderly fraud victims — from coming forward, and how should institutions work to low
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