About the Field

There’s no more diverse career field for a crime analyst than counter-fraud. Fraudsters can operate in any industry. When the government is the victim of fraud, waste and abuse, Offices of the Inspector General (OIG) are often the main investigative bodies who pursue fraudsters. Unfortunately, the modern world offers limitless non-government targets for fraud. Online retail platforms like Amazon or ETSY can provide a space for criminals to defraud vendors, customers or even the platform itself. Financial institutions, online gaming platforms, dating apps, social media sites and any business that engages in transactions can be a fraud arena. Business owners lose billions every year to fraud, which is why anti-fraud positions can be such a lucrative career field for Crime Analysts looking to make the move to the private sector.

This is my favorite field to talk about because the risks are so diverse and changing constantly. I’ve been a party to fraud analysis involving everything from credit cards, to collectibles to horse semen (horse semen fraud is a surprisingly big industry. Read more HERE, HERE and HERE if you dare). Whereas violent crime analysis and reduction tends to fit a consistent mold across time and place, nearly every major new technological, legislation or business change or global event introduces a new type of fraud and the world as we know it is just now waking up to the true costs of fraud. Amazon’s meteoric rise introduced a billion dollar online retail fraud space that did not exist in the 20th century. COVID introduced a plethora of new fraud schemes. If you enjoy a fast-paced, abstract and ever-changing world filled with new challenges, the counter-fraud field may just be for you.

Job Titles to Know

Fraud Analyst: Consider a police department that only investigates fraud. Now imagine what a crime analyst might do in such a department. These analysts look through applications for services, payment information, refund data, etc and look for patterns that may indicate fraudulent activity. They can initiate investigations, support investigators and provide problem-solving insights to upper management.

Fraud Investigator: Analogous to detective work, a lot of fraud investigation involves interviewing witnesses, collecting physical evidence and writing reports. Given the nature and setting of the work, many fraud investigators have some data analysis knowledge.

Get Qualified

Detecting fraud is often a big data proposition. Analysts must be able to quickly identify risk factors that make a transaction, a vendor, a customer, a location, or an IP address more likely to be involved in fraud and shut down any fraudulent activity before losses occur. To that end, a strong background in analytics especially SQL, data visualization and risk scoring/machine learning are highly desired in this field. Additionally, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners offers one of the most sought after credentials, the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). The ACFE annual conference is an incredible experience that offers tremendous networking opportunities.

Job Search Keywords

Fraud Analytics, Fraud Investigator, Fraud Intelligence, Certified Fraud Examiner, Risk Mining, Loss Prevention, Payment Risk Analytics, Vendor Risk Analytics, Customer Risk Analytics

Example employers

The Walt Disney Company, United Services Automobile Association (USAA), TikTok, CitiBank, Amazon, Blue Cross/ Blue Shield