Retraining as a Fraud Investigator

cheekyvimto247

Hello. I wonder if anyone can help me. For the last 11 years, (since college) i have been working for a construction company as a buyer, and worked my way up from the bottom to the top. Recently with all the problems in the construction industry, i am wanting to have a change of career.

I have been wanting to get into fraud investigation for a long time, but have never done anything. I am now looking at making the move in the near future. I feel a fraud investigator (probably in benefit fraud, or insurance fraud) would be well suited to me and i could offer a lot to a company who would offer me a position.

The problem i am having is that due to having no experience in this field as yet, there are no positions out there. Does anybody know of any training available that is worthwhile, or any other ways of getting into the industry.

Thanks for your help. And this is my first post, so please go easy on me.

Thanks

ThinkingOfLinking

I don't know how it works; my ex was a fraud investigator for the DWP and JobCentreplus but he worked there from the age of 16 as a signing person and worked his way up; he was 45 when I knew him.

Rockporkchop

I looked into this a while ago as it sounds like a great job. I was told that if you want to become a benefit/insurance fraud investigator nowadays you should ideally have a degree in business or accounting as well as advanced certification in auditing, investigation, and finance. Apparently the best way in is to get an entry level finance job and learn how the whole financial services business works for a minimum of five years before then getting a job as a trainee investigator.

Failing that, other options were to join the police force and work your way up to fraud squad or join the DWP in an entry level position and work your way up. Pretty tough business to get into, all in all.

m_13

You can train as an Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist (ACFS) as a private individual with the NHS Counter Fraud Service in Reading or Coventry. The course is 8 weeks for the foundation level training and you spend 4 weeks training in the classroom and 4 weeks working on your modules away from the classroom. It's very hard work, particularly learning all the law, but interesting and varied.

Their information page is here: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1154.aspx

At the end, if you pass, you receive a qualification that is acceptable to the NHS (to work as a Local Counter Fraud Specialist) and various other organisations including the DWP. The course is around £2,500 for a private individual although you will need to get somebody to give you references as to your honesty and suitability and you can have no criminal convictions.

HOWEVER. If you do not have investigative experience then you may struggle to find a position after the course as one of the people on my course did. She's passed but cannot find work because of lack of experience.

Once you have your ACFS qualification you can continue in many directions.

Through Portsmouth University you can do the following route via distance learning:

• Certificate of Higher Education in Counter Fraud and Criminal Justice Studies
• Diploma of Higher Education in Counter Fraud and Criminal Justice Studies
• BSc (Hons) in Counter Fraud and Criminal Justice Studies
• MSc in Counter Fraud and Corruption Studies.

They also do an MSc in Forensic Accounting.

Or you can pursue the international Certified Fraud Examiner qualification: http://www.acfe.com which you can also do via distance learning.

Recruiters like RSM Bentley Jennison sometimes have entry level positions to join a team as a junior investigator and work your way up.

If you work in any area of investigation then be prepared to not only be disliked but also actively despised! People have said some truly horrible things to my face (and no doubt worse behind my back) so you have to have a very tough skin.

kitty_cat_2

If you are interested in becoming an NHS Counter Fraud Specialist it is worth looking on the NHS Jobs website (google NHS Jobs). Smoe Trust will employ you and pay for you to undertake ypour training with the NHS CFS. But as m_13 points out, you will not be the most popular of people! but can be very rewarding when a case reaches court.

Anihilator

Lets be honest.

Its a pipe dream. Plenty of perfectly qualified and experienced people already out there to fill these jobs without an employer spending thousands to give someone quite progressed in life thousands to do it.

m_13

In a word - no.

There are a shortage of qualified people to be Local Counter Fraud Specialists for the NHS. They currently allow unqualified people with investigative experience - ex-Police for example - to work as an LCFS for up to 12 months without qualifying because of the shortage. However, by the end of the 12 months they have to pass the course or leave.

In most companies there are very few people qualified to counter and investigate fraud. My company could do with another nine of me and we'd still be scratching the surface. Since the recession started even honest people have become fradulent to pay their bills or maintain their income/standard of living. Typical problems are overclaimed overtime and expenses, buying items through work for home (printer cartridges, school stuff for kids) and running their own business from work.

My training has paid for itself in less than three months of fraud stopped.

gntfraud

m_13 - I would be very interested to know where these jobs are and how to access them.

I am an experienced fraud and financial investigator and accredited under the NHS scheme. I have been told by a number of the agencies that provide accredited investigators to the NHS that my lack of NHS related experience will make it very difficult to place me. So far I have been unable to secure any work within the NHS. Any advice welcomed.
Thanks

sammyjammy

To work as a fraud investigator in Jobcentre Plus you don't need a degree or any particular qualifications, they are currently recruiting and any one person that is successful could end up in investigation at Executive Officer level or above.

m_13

gntfraud wrote: »

m_13 - I would be very interested to know where these jobs are and how to access them.

I am an experienced fraud and financial investigator and accredited under the NHS scheme. I have been told by a number of the agencies that provide accredited investigators to the NHS that my lack of NHS related experience will make it very difficult to place me. So far I have been unable to secure any work within the NHS. Any advice welcomed.
Thanks

RSM Bentley Jennison (I linked to the website in another post in this thread) often have jobs. Most jobs seen to be within consortiums who then provide the services back to the NHS. Some LCFS cover three or four hospitals or more on a timeshare basis.

Are you a member of the Institute of Counter Fraud Speciailists? I believe a lot of job networking goes on via their forum.

There's a page linking to investigator jobs on the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner's UK chapter website here: http://www.acfeuk.co.uk/jobs.htm

Reed also have jobs on their website. It might be worthwhile finding out which consortium provides the LCFS in your travel to work area and then contact them.