Fraud analyst vs fraud investigator

The differences between fraud analysts and fraud investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a fraud analyst and a fraud investigator. Additionally, a fraud analyst has an average salary of $53,187, which is higher than the $49,010 average annual salary of a fraud investigator.

The top three skills for a fraud analyst include customer service, fraud prevention and SQL. The most important skills for a fraud investigator are law enforcement agencies, investigative reports, and fraud investigations.

Fraud analyst vs fraud investigator overview

	Fraud Analyst	Fraud Investigator
Yearly salary	$53,187	$49,010
Hourly rate	$25.57	$23.56
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	10,891	5,470
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	4	4

What does a fraud analyst do?

Fraud analysts are responsible for monitoring bank accounts, accounting paperwork, and financial transactions. They analyze the data to identify any fraudulent and suspicious activities within an organization. Their duties and responsibilities may vary depending on which industries they work in. These may include keeping the confidentiality of any collected information, resolving customers' problems, and maintaining fraud analysis models to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of company systems. Fraud analysts are also expected to provide recommendations for anti-fraud processes and new software tools to improve fraud detection and prevention.

What does a fraud investigator do?

A fraud investigator specializes in investigating and identifying fraudulent activities within a company and its clients. Their responsibilities depend on their line of work or industry of employment. However, most of the time, their duties will revolve around devising strategies and systems to detect inconsistencies, monitoring suspicious transactions and accounts, conducting reviews to identify any security lapses or vulnerabilities in the procedures, and teaching staff how to notice any fraudulent activities. Furthermore, it is vital to implement the policies and regulations of the company.

Fraud analyst vs fraud investigator salary

Fraud analysts and fraud investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fraud Analyst	Fraud Investigator
Average salary	$53,187	$49,010
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $92,000	Between $32,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	New York
Best paying company	Aspiration	Deutsche Bank
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between fraud analyst and fraud investigator education

There are a few differences between a fraud analyst and a fraud investigator in terms of educational background:

	Fraud Analyst	Fraud Investigator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Business	Criminal Justice
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	California State University - Bakersfield

Fraud analyst vs fraud investigator demographics

Here are the differences between fraud analysts' and fraud investigators' demographics:

	Fraud Analyst	Fraud Investigator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 41.0% Female, 59.0%	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 10.0% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between fraud analyst and fraud investigator duties and responsibilities

Fraud analyst example responsibilities.

Accomplish investigations that meet the criteria for referrals to the OIG and/or the FBI.
Lead the requirement gathering effort from key customers for development of new JAVA applications and for troubleshooting customer issues.
Review, research, investigate, negotiate, adjust payments, and resolve appeals and grievances for Medicaid and Medicare claims.
Perform fundamental SQL database queries to accurately update financial fraud trends monthly analysis report.
Produce SARs as required by FinCEN.
Interact with various departments to research securities present on UBSPW.com.

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Fraud investigator example responsibilities.

Manage corporate-wide document production relative to complex litigation cases.
Detect and investigate fraudulent transactions such as money laundering, check forgeries, unauthorize ACH transfers and debit card fraud.
Review ISO reports and maintain close contact with police agencies working on fraud investigations.
Pursue recovery of bank funds through ACH processes, restitution from perpetrator and customer through criminal and civil means.
Write suspicious activity reports, address fraud alerts, and other applicable AML processes in accordance with regulations and time limitations.
Work on the development of a client application site determining the AML decision making rules, alerts, validation and verification.

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Fraud analyst vs fraud investigator skills

Common fraud analyst skills

Customer Service, 13%
Fraud Prevention, 7%
SQL, 6%
Outbound Calls, 6%
Fraudulent Transactions, 5%
Law Enforcement, 4%

Common fraud investigator skills

Law Enforcement Agencies, 7%
Investigative Reports, 6%
Fraud Investigations, 6%
Criminal Justice, 6%
Financial Institutions, 4%
Fraud Claims, 4%

Updated January 8, 2025

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