I think in part it's selection bias? Like if you're smart enough to get by honestly, you're probably also smart enough to realize getting by honestly is just a way more comfortable way to live. The only reason you'd probably cross that line is because your principals, whatever they may be, conflict with those laws, or your life circumstances are so bad that you have no choice BUT to turn to crime.
And that cuts the other way too: if you're dumb enough to think you'd NEVER get caught for a burglary, for example, you'd probably be way more down to plan and execute one, failing to consider that most thieves aren't caught when they steal the shit, they're caught when they try and sell it later.
...but the last sentence if kind of important, right?
We only know about the criminals who got caught. Which probably means they did something dumb.
It's conceivable to me that there could be many—maybe even a majority—of criminals we don't know about because no one ever caught them. Maybe they committed fraud once, decided not to push their luck, and lived the rest of their life quietly. Maybe they killed someone and made it look like an accident, and no one ever suspected anything. How would we know?
Basically a lot more evil goes unpunished than most realize, because carma is a thing only when it's a thing - sometimes it just isn't.
Here's an FBI chart for 2019 [1]
Though some countries like Japan and Germany have really good clearance rates for homicide. [2]
But more heartening, it seems like it doesn't really matter how many people the cops catch. Crime rates are still generally on a long downward trend (with some bumps along the way). [3]
[1] https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2019/crime-in-the-u.s.-...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_clearance_rate
[3] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/types-violent-crime-rate-...
Which is to say: If a criminal gets away with a crime and faces no punishment, not even public scorn, are they really a criminal? Or did they just work a situation, even of their making, to their advantage?
I don't particularly know where we should draw that line. But yes, my statement does deserve a big caveat there.
I think it's also much about self-esteem -- am I proud of myself? And criminals probably think highly of themselves when they succeed in their crimes.