BFA # 006 | How to Get Into Fraud

What's happening Fraud Fighters?

In today's edition, we look at how you even get into fraud.

Not like committing fraud, but how to actually fight fraud.

Read Time: ~3 Minutes

The Path In

The coolest part to me about the fraud world is there is no true path in.

Everyone's journey is so unique, which brings many different perspectives.

Through hundreds of calls with fraud fighters, it was obvious to me - we face a lot of the same headaches, frustrations, and pushback.

But our unique journeys give us all different ways to approach those same problems and turn them into opportunities.

As exciting as this is to me, this is also the problem.

There is no true education.

There is no true consistency.

There is no true path in

Things are progressing, but we're still not there.

This also makes it challenging for career growth and how do fraud fighters progress in their careers.

To make it even more difficult, depending on where the Fraud or Trust & Safety team sits within a company, can determine what types of skills a company will be looking for or even what types of abuse the company is focused on.

My Break into Fraud

Fraud first came on my radar in college towards the end of my education.

I was going for my Master's in Accounting and took a few fraud courses because it seemed far more interesting than debits and credits.

They weren't focused on digital fraud and were more stuffy, corporate fraud. It still caught my interest.

Once I graduated, I only looked good for Accounting roles on paper. The problem was I hated Accounting.

I was good at it. It just clicked in my brain and helped me understand how businesses run and think about money as a lifeline.

So I gave it a shot. I was going to give the accounting world 1 year.

That's what I did.

Not a day more. Not a day less. Exactly 1 year.

And I was gone.

But I stayed true to my world, and I was fully focused in the next step of my career.

Trying to find an eCommerce company (that was a startup in my mind then) that were hiring a low level fraud analyst was my goal.

It was hard. There weren't many opportunities. Nearly nothing.

It felt like I was looking forever to find the right role, and it got discouraging.

But I found one and convinced them that I was the right fit.

As they say, the rest is history. I haven't looked back since.

Your Advantage to Getting in the Door

The best part of what I'm about to share works for anyone who is looking for their next role not just your first role.

Your network is your superpower. Start building it yesterday.

The easiest way, for me at least, to build my network in the fraud space is LinkedIn.

Love it or hate it. It's where fraud fighters admit they're fraud fighters.

Find companies you want to work for and connect with people in the position you want to learn more about.

Be honest. Be authentic. Be curious.

Ask them some questions about their role or ask them to hop on a quick call to learn about their journey.

Not everyone will want to help or have time to help, but that's ok.

There's a lot of good people in our community that are more than happy to help out other fraud fighters and future fraud fighters.

When you're about to wrap up the call and thank them for the time, there's a few ways you can handle next steps

1. Schedule a follow up call with them to keep learning while you're on the call with them

2. Ask for an intro to another team member to keep learning

3. Ask them what their next steps would be if they were in your position

Listen carefully.

You've now done a few things

1. Advanced your knowledge of what day-to-day looks like to one fraud fighter

2. Expanded your personal network

3. Learned about the unique problems a specific company faces

Now this last one - use strategically and carefully. When used at the right time, it can unlock a lot of opportunities. When used incorrectly, you risk the trust you've built.

Ask them for a referral for the job.

By now you've built a relationship with someone internally, you've learned about the problems they face, and you've taken those learnings to showcase how you can help them solve their fraud problems.

In a world where most people just follow the status quo.

You need to challenge it.

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See you again next Friday in your inbox.

​Brian