Benford’s law, also called the first-digit law, is an observation about the frequency distribution of leading digits in sets of numerical data. The law states that in many naturally occurring collections of numbers, the leading significant digit is likely to be small [1]. For example, in sets that obey the law, the number 1 appears as the most significant digit about 30% of the time, and the percentages decrease all the way down to a leading digit of 9, which appears 4.6% of the time.

Why Run This Analysis?

When fraudsters are fabricating data, they may not know to manufacture fake data in a manner that conforms to Benford’s Law.  Constructing a Benford’s Law visualization in Tableau can help you determine if your numerical data is fake or at least raise doubts about its authenticity.

In short, remember that one isn’t always the loneliest number!

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law