CAFS Exam Topics Cover:

Regulatory requirements and industry best practices to design and develop a fraud risk management framework specific to an industry or region
Management of the fraud mitigation life cycle, including prevention, detection, investigation processes, and feedback loops to improve controls
Components of a fraud risk management framework, including the development of policies, prevention strategies, detection controls, and control tests
Ownership of fraud policies and procedures
Operational impact of fraud across the organization
Cost and exposure of fraud for the organization, the cost of implementing and maintaining mitigating controls, and performing cost-benefit analysis
Governance and reporting associated with operating a robust fraud risk program
Responsibilities of business lines and product owners, including product changes and expansion plans
Level of fraud risk each role is subject to and the associated controls based on the risk of the roles, including training needs
Current and seasonal trends to identify which risks are involved
Fraud detection systems, the capabilities they provide, ensuring detection rules are designed and implemented based on your organization’s risk appetite and policies
Transactional red flags specific to the product, geographic location, or customer type
Fraud risks associated with the products and operational processes of the organization, so fraud patterns used across the different products can be identified
Best practices for developing fraud controls for organizations
Role of fraud detection tools in preventing and detecting fraud
Business activities to identify the risk and educate business areas to identify risk themselves and report it
Emerging technology capabilities that could be used by fraudsters
Techniques for conducting gap analyses or assurance reviews to identify fraud risks in business activities in line with regulatory requirements and industry best practices
How to conduct an assurance review of a fraud risk program and identify and implement improvements
Victim profiling or which target group is most likely to fall victim to which types of fraud
How to effectively educate all personnel in the organization about fraud, including methods and techniques in fraud-related subjects
Business workflows, including activities outsourced by the business to third-party vendors
Audit methodologies and sampling approaches adopted in fraud prevention review
Major fraud types including internal and external fraud, 1st party, 2nd party, and 3rd party fraud impacting financial institutions
Vulnerable customers and the relevant communication techniques used by the organization when corresponding with the customer
Which fraud types have reasonable recovery potential and understanding of any regulatory requirements that need to be satisfied when undertaking a recovery
How to effectively educate customers about fraud-related subjects
Fraud prevention, anti-fraud laws, regional governance, and policies relevant to one’s geographic location
Laws and regulatory requirements on handling fraud cases to mitigate losses, including account blocking, payment recall, and sending payment messages, e.g., SWIFT messages
Regulatory environment, return and reclamation timeframes, and policies of financial institutions
Methods for interpreting fraud-related intelligence and information to assist law enforcement and local authorities with open fraud investigations
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), the policies and procedures for SAR processing, and the requirements your local regulators have in place to report suspicion
Regulatory requirements governing customer communications
Best practices for setting up a technology portfolio for the prevention and detection of fraud
Functionality and limitations of anti-fraud technology solutions
Data privacy and related regulations to understand what is permissible in regulatory governance as it relates to fraud prevention technology
External data sources of relevant information, their credibility, vulnerability, potential bias and legal implications in an investigation
Different fraud techniques related to different business channels (e.g., online, mobile, faceto-face [f2f], or telephone)
Expected customer behavior and methods to identify “suspicious” behavior
Effective fraud analytics techniques to identify patterns or trends of fraudulent transactions, e.g., trend analysis
Emerging and seasonal trends requiring adjustments to current fraud detection models, e.g., horizon scanning
How to balance fraud mitigation strategies within analytics that not only reduce risk but also have a positive impact on the client
Interpreting structured and unstructured financial and non-financial data to make an initial assessment of the level of fraud threat
Front-facing touchpoints available to users or fraudsters
Behavioral elements associated with past fraudulent transactions
How to engage with other lines of business and internal teams to gather data and detect fraud
Fraud systems and capabilities to prevent fraud typologies, along with technical capabilities to amend prevention and detection systems rules
Methods for conducting rules reviews to help the efficiency and effectiveness of detecting fraud
Criminal frameworks used for penetration testing to identify how criminals may find weaknesses in systems
How to use transaction filtering systems to block suspicious transactions and raise alerts for investigations
Available data and analytics related to different business channels, based on systems being used
Data available from technology platforms that would carry fraud indicators, e.g., multiple calls from the same number or geo-location with respect to different accounts or transfers from multiple victims to the same potential perpetrator, and how it can be used to mitigate specific types of fraud
Strengths and weaknesses associated with the available datasets or technologies
Available data and internal systems to analyze and detect internal fraud
Internal data sources to understand how to best use customer data for fraud prevention and detection
Technology solutions for analytics and detection of fraud
New technology and data aggregation principles and the reason behind these methodologies
Thorough case investigations, including evidence gathering, interviewing victims and suspects, documenting case details and decisions
How to identify relevant information using research and data analysis to support an investigation
How to articulate a risk or gap identified during a fraud investigation and assist with identifying solutions on how to mitigate or close
How to conduct fraud investigations to determine the root cause
Internal systems and external tools to analyze events in response to intelligence or suspicion for the prevention and detection of fraud
Methods for compiling and analyzing the relevant information for investigative reports
Company fraud policies and procedures, including thresholds for knowing when and why to initiate an investigation
Sources of relevant information, their credibility, and potential bias in an investigation
External resources to help with complex investigations, including bulletins, working groups, or task forces comprising other industry bodies
Deadlines and time management associated with investigations
How to recognize, assist, and collaborate with other risk and control teams, e.g., cybersecurity, anti-money laundering (AML), or anti-bribery and corruption (ABC), in conducting joint investigations and seeking support from
legal counsel
Common fraud typologies, trends and techniques used by fraudsters and their associated red flags
Knowledge of payment scheme rulebooks related to chargebacks and indemnity guidelines
Effective open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques and sources
Proper investigative and interviewing techniques in fraud investigations for victims, fraudsters, whistleblowers, and witnesses
Know your customer (KYC) / enhanced due diligence (EDD) / customer due diligence (CDD) / Source of Wealth (SoW), transaction history, and how the relevant information obtained within them can help to assess overall risk in a fraud investigation
Methods and regulations to recover lost funds from fraud
Global messaging networks such as SWIFT and clearing schemes such as CHIPS (US), CHAPS (UK), BACS (UK), SEPA (Europe), MEPS (Singapore), CIPS (China) and other Electronic Funds Transfer Schemes
How to make recommendations to the business on concluding the investigation, including account closures, disposition of funds, and recording losses
How to write an effective and accurate fraud investigation report for various purposes or stakeholders
Acceptable data and evidence as recognized by local authoritative bodies, e.g., reporting suspicion and liaising with local FIU and law enforcement
Impact of fraud on victims and how to best interact with victims of fraud (e.g., through tone of voice, etc.)