How to get a career in fraud investigation?

May 1, 2018 9:04 PM

I have been a staff accountant for about 1.5 years and plan to begin taking the CPA exam in the fall. Over the past couple years, I have become extremely interested in working as a fraud investigator. How do I go about it? What should my career trajectory look like? What skills/credentials/experiences should I be getting now, in preparation? What is it like, day to day, being a fraud investigator anyway?

My dream job is to become a special agent (accountant) for the FBI working on fraud investigations, but I am already 32 years old and have no experience in law enforcement. How can I make this dream a reality, or at least give myself the best shot possible at making it a reality?

My current plan is to work as an auditor for the year or two that it will take me to pass the CPA exam and get my license. Once I have the CPA license, I plan to apply to the FBI. But is there a better alternative, given my long-term goals? If the FBI doesn't work out, are there other routes to take? There actually was a police department job that was posted for years in a neighboring county that would have been the "local" version of my dream job -- but, unfortunately, the posting has since been removed. (I checked recently because at the end of this semester, I will meet the posting's educational requirements). However, it seems like there are very few general fraud investigator jobs out there, and I am unsure how to make myself qualified for the ones that do exist.

Is there any way that I can get an "entry level" fraud investigator job now, in an environment that allows me to earn my CPA license in the coming year (i.e., a job in which my supervisor is an active CPA)? And if there is a way, what is it? If there's not, then I'll stick to the auditor path -- but if possible, I would love to work on fraud investigation now, rather than having to wait another year or two to begin!

Also, in case it's relevant, I'm in the DC area.

posted by static sock to Work & Money (6 answers total)

What sort of fraud investigation? Three people close to me are now or have been financial fraud investigators - two at a large bank and one at a small bank. They mostly track down small time check fraud and money laundering. All three had prior banking experience, like managing a bank branch or doing phone customer service for a bank. One had gone to accountant school but isn't a CPA. The others had no formal training. They all seem like entry level fraud investigator jobs to me.
posted by MonsieurBon at 7:19 AM on May 2, 2018

Best answer: I don't know whether there would be an option to be supervised by an active CPA, but you might want to explore various job postings at FINRA if you're willing to work in Rockville, MD. I'd look for job positions that include investigator, analyst or examiner.
posted by Caz721 at 7:42 AM on May 2, 2018

Financial institutions and state governments will also often have these kinds of positions. DC may not, but I would guess that VA and maybe MD would.

There appear to be multiple forensic accounting professional organizations, which makes me a little skeptical of them, but you should probably look at their sites anyway, to glean what information you can while taking it with a grain of salt (e.g., I wouldn't rely on rosy prediction of career prospects or estimated salaries).
posted by praemunire at 7:51 AM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Not in the current administration, but, later on, the national bank regulators might also be a good place to look. I can't imagine there aren't bank examiners that specifically focus on fraud. Plus, anti-money laundering compliance has a pretty strong connection to anti-fraud work as well.
posted by snaw at 9:16 AM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm not sure why you think your dream job is out of reach -- the FBI is recruiting for a Special Agent (Accounting/Finance Background) right now, and the cutoff age is 37 (even after that, waivers are available). Depending on your educational background and professional history, they'll have the resources to offer forensic training once you're on the job. More generally, the Dept. of Homeland Security is seeking a Financial Analyst (Forensics) in DC.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:51 AM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you for your answers -- it sounds like banking, watchdog/compliance consultants, and the government (state or fed) are probably the options to seek out in the long run.

My reasons for not applying to the FBI immediately:
-- I don't have the required amount of experience (they want three years, but I have only one and a half in accounting);
-- They have a really rigorous fitness assessment that I wouldn't pass as-is;
-- I want to get my CPA license before going to the public sector (accounting firms generally give employees support in pursing it that I wouldn't get in the public sector).

I also am very intimidated by the FBI, and who knows if I would ever even be qualified to work there or be able to pass their assessments. That said, thank you so much for bringing up the possibility and making it sound genuinely realistic! That really invigorates me to begin working directly toward it again.

Given my research and your answers, for the next year or two, I will stick to my plan of working in audit (or forensic accounting, if I'm lucky!) for an accounting firm and taking the CPA exams. I am also trying to volunteer as an auxiliary police officer for the neighboring county, to get some law enforcement experience/training. And of course, I need to work on my fitness level and other skills (mostly language skills).

But after the CPA exam, I will go ahead and apply. Even that thought is intimidating, but I guess you've got to at least throw your hat in the ring and see what happens!

Thank you for being so supportive -- my friends and family all find the idea of me pursing this (or even liking accounting at all) very strange, so they tend to be discouraging. This has been a wake-up call, in a good way.
posted by static sock at 8:29 AM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]