There have always been people who try to find a faster, easier road to riches. As Leonardo da Vinci said, though, in the opening quote, it rarely works out well for them. It is a different perspective to look at the same circumstances as the rest of society but see an opportunity to get away with something for personal gain, no matter the harm to others. Laurence Peter (1919-1990), a Canadian writer and educator lamented, “It’s strange that men should take up crime when there are so many legal ways to be dishonest.”

White-collar crime is as old as greed itself, cybercrime is as old as the internet, and organized crime is as old as Prohibition. In each case, people see an opportunity to take advantage of others for their own ego and financial benefit. We will cover all of these unique crime areas in the following sections.