What Does A Fraud Analyst Do? (With Essential Skills)

Updated 30 September 2022

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Fraud analysts are professionals who analyse, prevent and investigate cases of theft and forgery in customer accounts. They generally work at banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunication, payment and credit companies. Knowing about the common duties of these professionals can help you showcase your past work experience and expertise impressively on your resume. In this article, we discuss the responsibilities of a fraud analyst, list the essential skills required to become one and share how to highlight these duties and skills on your resume.

What Are The Duties Of A Fraud Analyst?

Here are the common duties of a fraud analyst:

Investigating fraudulent transactions

These analysts investigate fraudulent activities in customer accounts, such as unauthorised access or transactions, account take over or theft. Customers with banking and investing companies may experience such transactions, and fraud investigators help ascertain the extent of loss, identify vulnerabilities and recover the amount stolen or reverse the transaction. They are also typically responsible for coordinating with different company officials to validate or cancel transactions or authorisations under processing.

Identifying high-risk transactions

Fraud analysing professionals monitor transaction queues in real-time to detect high-risk transactions and halt them. They may use various digital surveillance or data analysis tools to supervise high volumes of transactions and focus on the ones flagged by the system. Most banking, insurance and credit companies employ these professionals to prevent theft or fraud proactively.

Operating fraud detection tools and software

Modern banking and payment companies generally deploy sophisticated fraud detection tools and software solutions to prevent fraudulent transactions. Operating and managing these systems is typically the responsibility of these analysts. They usually use such tools to analyse customer data and perform surveillance on real-time transactions. Besides, they may also use customised fraud detection tools to generate custom reports and perform checks.

Interviewing customers and company officials

Professionals who work with aggrieved customers and company officials after a fraud occurs are typically fraud investigators and analysts. They may visit the local office branch or ATM location to interact with the customer, understand the sequence of events and interview other professionals such as security guards and company officials. Besides implementing the standard operating procedure protocols in such instances, these analysts may also assure customers and retrieve crucial physical or digital evidence.

Working with law enforcement officials

Financial crimes and thefts may involve filing a complaint with law enforcement officials and assisting them in investigating the fraud or recovering funds. This is particularly true for high-ticket transactions or thefts, which may evoke media attention. Fraud investigators and analysts work alongside law enforcement officials to establish facts, find evidence and provide all necessary support to conduct a thorough investigation. They generally act as a liaison between the company and law enforcement officials to facilitate a smooth investigation.

Performing periodic system checks to identify vulnerabilities

Fraud investigators and analysts perform regular system checks and customer verification to identify and fix system vulnerabilities. These professionals are also generally responsible for updating the models for analysing fraud as per industry trends and security norms. They may also assist the company's IT and cybersecurity team in securing company systems and facilitating safe customer transactions by identifying key threats and recommending anti-fraud features.

Ensuring customer data accuracy and completeness

Professionals investigating financial fraud may also help the company secure its customer database and information by improving its accuracy and reliability. This generally involves ensuring completeness of information, verifying customer contact details, completing know-your-customer or KYC compliance and supervising account access and authorisations. They can also be responsible for educating customers on how to transact safely and secure their accounts against theft and fraud.

Essential Skills For A Fraud Analyst

Here are some essential skills that fraud investigators and analysts may require to perform their role effectively:

Attention to detail

Attention to detail can be crucial for fraud investigators and analysts, as they may regularly review large volumes of data and monitor real-time transactions for discrepancies. Being attentive can help them spot inaccuracies in customer accounts, transactions and authorisations and prevent theft. This skill can also help professionals file reports accurately and identify evidence when investigating cases.

Communication

Communication skills can help these professionals interact with customers, law enforcement officials and company leaders effectively. These abilities can also be crucial when conducting interviews or gathering evidence. Besides, writing reports, filing complaints and responding to customer queries can also be easier with strong communication skills.

Digital skills

Digital skills include the ability to operate basic and advanced software and hardware systems. As these professionals use many digital tools to identify fraud, being able to operate computers, digital interfaces, applications and other devices can be crucial. Knowledge or experience working in different programming languages can also be beneficial.

Data analysis

Data analysis is the ability to process and decipher large data sets to extract actionable insights. Fraud investigators and analysts who monitor customer activity and transactions may apply data analysis techniques using different fraud detection models. These skills can also help professionals identify sources of threats, fix vulnerabilities and analyse industry trends.

Time management

Fraud analysis may work on several cases and investigations simultaneously. In a typical workday, they might interview aggrieved customers, work with cybercrime officials, file reports and conduct primary research. Knowing how to manage time and prioritise urgent tasks can help these professionals fulfil all their responsibilities effectively.

Collaboration

Fraud investigators and analysts usually work with different stakeholders, such as customers, company employees and law enforcement officials, during the course of the investigation. This can require strong collaboration skills as these professionals may coordinate information retrieval from different teams. Strong collaboration skills can also improve team productivity and efficiency, which can help solve cases and prevent theft.

Knowledge of financial compliance and regulations

Knowledge of financial compliance and local and national regulations regarding industry-specific transactions can be vital for fraud investigators and analysts to identify cases of fraud, collect evidence and help law enforcement officials. This knowledge can help them follow the due process when investigating cases and supporting law enforcement in identifying culprits. Similarly, expertise in financial compliance and anti-theft practices can help these professionals build robust fraud detection models.

How To List Fraud Analyst Job Duties And Skills On A Resume?

Here are some ways to include your key duties and skills from previous jobs on your resume:

1. Use action verbs

Using strong action words while explaining your job duties from previous roles can create a positive impression on the hiring manager. It can also clearly define your job role and demonstrate confidence. Make a list of the most relevant action verbs in your role and industry to identify the ones that are most impactful and effective. Here are some examples of how you can use action verbs while writing your resume:

Investigated high-risk transactions
Created a new fraud detection security model
Trained new team members

2. Classify skills in different groups

When listing your skills, use relevant categories to classify similar skills. This can allow you to effectively showcase your diversity and expertise and include more skills on your resume. For example, you can divide your skills into the following categories:

Technical skills: Financial compliance | Fraud detection model generation | Vulnerability testing
Soft skills: Communication | Customer service | Time management | Attention to detail
Analytical skills: Data analysis | Research | Data collection | Evidence gathering and interviewing

3. Highlight measurable results and achievements

Whenever possible, use measurable achievements that can highlight the impact that you created. This can help convey the tangible value you can bring to the prospective employer and distinguish your application from other competitors. Here are some ways to use numbers and statistics while listing your previous duties:

Prevented fraudulent transactions worth ₹1,80,00,000
Improved the fraud detection rate by 6%
Investigated and solved more than 100 pending cases