Fraud Examiners, Investigators, and Analysts

Fraud examiners, investigators, and analysts work in government agencies in the public and private sectors. They also also work in financial and banking institutions, as well as in private agencies that offer fraud investigation services. Those who work in retail businesses may be employed in the loss prevention department, investigating transactions and activities related to inventory in an effort to prevent retail theft. Public-sector examiners, investigators, and analysts may work in teams with special agents and police detectives to investigate financial crimes and other types of white-collar crimes. Those employed in federal jobs investigate and examine criminal cases in which federal laws and regulations have been violated.

Fraud analysts who are employed at banks and financial institutions monitor customers' and banks' activities and transactions to determine if any suspicious activity has occurred. Banks and their customers have established banking patterns that change relatively little over time. Transactions for unusual amounts of money in locations that are not common to the customers are flagged and customers are alerted to these activities. Fraud analysts will investigate the origins of the transactions to search for the perpetrators, and will alert the bank and customers to the criminal activity. Fraud analysts also help banks and financial institutions to identify areas within their systems that are at risk for fraud and recommend ways to improve security.

Fraud examiners, investigators, and analysts spend much of their time on computers, analyzing business and financial data, preparing investigatory reports and documentation, and e-mailing with team members, supervisors, and clients. They are technologically savvy and must be well versed in various software programs to accomplish their work. They also increasingly use advanced artificial intelligence to collect and analyze data in order to investigate fraud allegations.