Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Fraud Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a highly analytical and detail-oriented Fraud Analyst to join our dynamic risk management team. In this pivotal role, you will be on the front lines of protecting our company and our customers from financial crime. You will be responsible for monitoring transactions, investigating suspicious activities, and utilizing data-driven insights to identify emerging fraud trends. The ideal candidate is a natural problem-solver with an investigative mindset, capable of making critical decisions in a fast-paced environment to mitigate risk and minimize financial losses.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Customer Service Representative (Disputes/Claims)
Bank Teller / Personal Banker
Recent Graduate (Finance, Criminal Justice, Data Analytics)
Data Entry or Operations Associate

Advancement To:

Senior Fraud Analyst / Fraud Investigator
Fraud Operations Team Lead / Manager
Risk Manager
Financial Crime or AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Specialist

Lateral Moves:

Data Analyst
Business Analyst
Compliance Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Monitor real-time transaction queues and customer accounts using sophisticated fraud detection systems to identify and intercept high-risk activities.
Conduct thorough, end-to-end investigations into suspicious activities, including account takeovers, payment fraud, identity theft, and friendly fraud.
Analyze complex transactional and customer data to uncover hidden patterns, link fraudulent accounts, and understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures of fraudsters.
Make critical, time-sensitive decisions to block transactions, place holds on accounts, or offboard users to prevent imminent financial losses.
Compile and maintain detailed, accurate, and well-documented case files for all investigations, ensuring a clear audit trail for future review.
Communicate directly with customers, merchants, and financial institutions to verify information, gather evidence, and resolve fraud-related inquiries.
Analyze chargeback data and manage the dispute resolution process, including gathering evidence for representment to recover lost revenue.
Develop, test, and refine fraud detection rules, algorithms, and models in collaboration with data science and engineering teams to improve accuracy and reduce false positives.
Prepare and submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in accordance with regulatory requirements and internal compliance standards.
Stay current with the global fraud landscape, researching new fraud typologies, technologies, and prevention methods to keep our defenses ahead of threats.
Evaluate the risk associated with new products, features, and market expansions, providing actionable recommendations to business stakeholders.
Create and maintain performance dashboards and reports to track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) for fraud operations.
Collaborate with product and engineering teams to provide feedback on tools and systems, recommending enhancements to improve operational efficiency.
Take ownership of specific fraud domains (e.g., card-not-present fraud, new account fraud) and serve as the subject matter expert.
Assist in developing and delivering fraud awareness training and materials for other departments to build a strong security culture.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer complex questions from leadership and partner teams.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by providing insights on data quality and necessary fraud-related data points.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for better data logging and fraud tool integration.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering and product teams to represent the interests of risk operations.
Participate in the user acceptance testing (UAT) of new fraud tools, systems, and rule logic before deployment.
Create and update internal policy and procedure documentation to ensure consistency and compliance in fraud investigation processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Data Analysis & SQL: Strong proficiency in using SQL to query large datasets, extract relevant information, and perform complex data analysis.
Fraud Detection Systems: Hands-on experience with industry-standard fraud detection and case management platforms (e.g., Sift, Feedzai, Accertify, Cybersource) or similar proprietary systems.
Data Visualization: Experience using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker to build dashboards and visually represent fraud trends and performance metrics.
Payment Ecosystems: Deep understanding of various payment methods (credit/debit cards, ACH, digital wallets) and their associated fraud risks and chargeback processes.
Excel Proficiency: Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, and complex formulas for data manipulation and reporting.
Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with relevant regulations such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies, and KYC/CIP requirements.

Soft Skills

Analytical & Critical Thinking: Exceptional ability to analyze information from multiple sources, identify inconsistencies, and draw logical, evidence-based conclusions.
Investigative Mindset: A natural curiosity and a knack for "thinking like a criminal" to anticipate threats and uncover the root cause of fraud events.
Attention to Detail: Meticulous approach to reviewing data and documenting case files, ensuring accuracy and completeness in all work.
Decisive Judgment: The ability to make confident, well-reasoned decisions quickly, often with incomplete information and under pressure.
Clear Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills to articulate complex findings clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Integrity & Discretion: A high degree of professionalism and ethical judgment when handling sensitive customer data and confidential information.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent practical work experience in an analytical or investigative role.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's or Master's degree in a quantitative or investigative field. Certifications such as CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) are highly desirable.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Criminal Justice
Finance / Economics
Data Science / Analytics
Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1-4 years of direct experience in a fraud prevention, risk management, trust and safety, or a related analytical role within e-commerce, fintech, or financial services.

Preferred:

3+ years of experience specializing in online payment fraud, with a proven track record of identifying fraud trends and contributing to rule/model development that demonstrably reduced financial losses.