Becoming a certified fraud examiner takes a lot of hard work. Most fraud examiners earn their certification through an intensive coursework program, combined with years of real-world experience in anti-fraud jobs. The International Association of Certified Fraud Examiners(IACFE) provides training for new and practicing fraud examiners. Here we will discuss the steps one should follow if he/she wants to become a certified fraud examiner.
how to become a certified fraud examiner
Becoming a certified fraud examiner includes certain requirements. To qualify for this designation, you must meet education requirements, pass an exam and complete a yearlong apprenticeship. The process differs for each state but provides the opportunity for financial gain in a growing field.
So What Does A Certified Fraud Examiner Do?
So that’s a lot of technical stuff about how to become a Certified Fraud Examiner, but you’re probably wondering what does a CFE really do? Fraud, particularly corporate fraud is a complicated crime. Unlike a murder or theft, the average person might not know it when they see it. Fraud will usually just look like a pile of papers, electronic documents, numbers or accounting figures. It takes a trained professional to figure out something is really wrong. A Certified Fraud Examiner must use a combination of investigative techniques and accounting expertise to gather evidence, make sense of it, and later prove it in court.
Certified Fraud Examiners are responsible for exposing some of the biggest corporate scandals in history, including Cynthia Cooper, the whisleblower of the worldcom scandal and Harry Markopolos, the whisteblower of the Bernie Madoff scandal.
Are Private Investigators Certified Fraud Examiners?
Private Investigators are usually not CFE’s, although they often work together to investigate fraud. A CFE might rather spend his time behind a desk reading over documents and making accounting calculations, while the investigator gets his hands dirty, going undercover, performing long hours of surveillance and diving in dumpsters to find the evidence that the CFE needs.
Private investigators may investigate some types of fraud by themselves. One example of this is insurance fraud. Proving insurance fraud may be a simple matter of taking a few photos to show that a person claiming to have a broken leg puts their crutches down and starts walking as soon as they think nobody’s looking. Proving corporate fraud on the other hand requires the involvement of a CFE to catch smart, careful white collar criminals who are very good at covering their own tracks. This is why Certified Fraud Examiners are an important part of any investigative team that seeks to uncover any complex fraud and corporate wrongdoing.