Fraud investigator vs senior investigator

The differences between fraud investigators and senior investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a fraud investigator, becoming a senior investigator takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a senior investigator has an average salary of $61,240, which is higher than the $49,010 average annual salary of a fraud investigator.

The top three skills for a fraud investigator include law enforcement agencies, investigative reports and fraud investigations. The most important skills for a senior investigator are senior level management, local law enforcement, and claims handling.

Fraud investigator vs senior investigator overview

	Fraud Investigator	Senior Investigator
Yearly salary	$49,010	$61,240
Hourly rate	$23.56	$29.44
Growth rate	6%	3%
Number of jobs	5,470	4,525
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	43	44
Years of experience	4	2

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.

What does a senior investigator do?

As a senior investigator, you will be responsible for managing investigations for crimes, including corruption, organized crime, and fraud. You will work closely with the district attorney and law enforcement to investigate and solve these crimes. This role will require you to perform other additional duties, including collecting DNA samples from the crime scene, suspects and victims, organizing live training on risk, compliance, and ethics, and testifying in criminal and civil courts, civil service hearings, and ethics commission.

Fraud investigator vs senior investigator salary

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

	Fraud Investigator	Senior Investigator
Average salary	$49,010	$61,240
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $74,000	Between $35,000 And $105,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Frederick, MD
Highest paying state	New York	Maryland
Best paying company	Deutsche Bank	DLA Piper
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between fraud investigator and senior investigator education

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

	Fraud Investigator	Senior Investigator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Criminal Justice
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	-

Fraud investigator vs senior investigator demographics

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

	Fraud Investigator	Senior Investigator
Average age	43	44
Gender ratio	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%	Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%
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, 11.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 2.8% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	4%	9%

Differences between fraud investigator and senior investigator duties and responsibilities

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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Senior investigator example responsibilities.

Investigate allegations of suspect FWA / prioritize and manage case load / maintain comprehensive case files.
Receive multiple letters of commendation for effective investigations that lead to successful prosecutions.
Create budget friendly evidence collection boxes for investigations and patrol officers.
Send specimens to laboratory to obtain DNA.
Participate on committees and teams supporting GMP compliance programs.
Collect possible DNA samples from the scene, victims, and suspects.

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Fraud investigator vs senior investigator skills

Common fraud investigator skills

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

Common senior investigator skills

Senior Level Management, 13%
Local Law Enforcement, 9%
Claims Handling, 8%
Court Proceedings, 8%
Data Analysis, 4%
Management System, 3%

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Business and Financial Industry
Fraud Investigator
Fraud Investigator vs Senior Investigator

Updated January 8, 2025

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