Senior Fraud Investigator

Northwest Bank•Columbus, OH

About The Position

The Senior Fraud Investigator detects, investigates, and resolves suspected internal and external fraudulent activity, including check, ACH, and wire fraud, account takeovers, elder exploitation, and other financial crimes reported by customers or identified through internal monitoring. The role helps minimize financial losses through thorough investigations, fraud-pattern analysis, and loss mitigation and recovery. It handles complex cases and supports leaders in refining procedures and identifying operational gaps that can improve fraud detection and response. The investigator collaborates with AML/CFT, Enterprise Risk Management, Compliance, and other internal departments, and may coordinate with law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The role is expected to meet case closure and quality metrics and report findings that may reveal operational or compliance risks. It also contributes to fraud training, policy and procedure improvements, risk-management practices, and ongoing compliance with applicable regulations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
3–5 years of experience in fraud investigations within the banking or financial services industry.
Proficiency in Verafin, including its case management and alerting features.
Knowledge of regulatory requirements, including BSA/AML, OFAC, and FFIEC guidelines.
Understanding of payment fraud, fraud schemes, common scams, and payment fraud investigations.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills for investigating fraud cases.
Ability to establish effective working relationships, collaborate with team members, solve problems, and make decisions.
Ability to communicate ideas and information clearly and concisely, orally and in writing, for the intended audience.
Ability to listen actively, understand others, share information, and facilitate an open exchange of ideas.
Ability to set courses of action, establish goals, track work progress, and use time and information effectively.
Ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions in ambiguous situations.
Ability to identify potential problems, evaluate relevant information and causes, and propose alternative or creative approaches.
Ability to allocate and use information, personnel, time, and other resources effectively.
Ability to make timely decisions and take action within the scope of assigned authority.
Ability to develop, evaluate, and implement alternative courses of action using sound assumptions, resources, and guidelines, and to support recommendations with data or reasoning.
Ability to motivate and direct others, assign work and authority appropriately, and provide advice and assistance.
Ability to understand and apply procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies, and maintain credibility on specialty matters.
Extensive knowledge of applicable local and U.S. laws, international requirements, and industry standards.
Strong organizational, communication, and persuasive skills.
Ability to analyze financial data and statistics.
Certified Fraud Examiner or Certified Financial Crimes Investigator certification upon hire.

Responsibilities

Investigate suspected fraudulent transactions, including employee fraud, fraud rings, check fraud, wire fraud, ACH fraud, debit and credit card fraud, identity theft, elder financial abuse, account takeover, and synthetic identity fraud.
Use Verafin’s case management system to review and resolve fraud cases, exercise independent judgment, document findings, and track cases through resolution.
Analyze transactional data to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies.
Serve as a primary liaison to bank employees, providing guidance and expertise on fraudulent activity.
Conduct fact-finding investigations and serve as a subject matter expert on fraud, potential policy violations, regulations, and applicable civil or criminal laws.
Initiate and respond to calls and written correspondence from account holders, bank personnel, and external organizations about suspicious activity or policy violations.
Interview customers, employees, suspects, witnesses, and victims in person and by phone to gather relevant information.
Lead financial-loss recovery efforts, including placing claims on assets, filing criminal charges, and collaborating with Legal on civil matters.
Apply Uniform Commercial Code recovery processes, including breach-of-warranty and return-item procedures.
Execute Hold Harmless agreements and manage related documentation.
Maintain current knowledge of regulatory frameworks and industry practices related to fraud recovery and financial crime investigations, including NACHA requirements.
Identify control gaps and recommend enhancements to reduce future fraud losses.
Write clear, complete, and relevant narratives of fraud events in compliance with BSA and FinCEN reporting requirements.
Build and maintain relationships with law enforcement agencies and other external partners.
Prepare cases for possible criminal investigation and prosecution by federal, state, or local authorities.
Represent the bank in civil and criminal litigation related to fraud investigations.
Provide fraud training and awareness sessions to bank personnel and retail management.
Assist in developing training and ongoing formal and informal communications to strengthen the bank’s risk-management and fraud culture.
Research applicable regulations to support sound decision-making.
Assist Financial Crimes leaders in developing and enhancing policies and procedures.
Influence stakeholder outcomes across all lines of defense on risk-management principles, integration, alignment, and improvements.
Assist Financial Crimes leaders in evaluating business-process gaps and improvements to align with Northwest’s risk-management framework.
Monitor the regulatory environment and emerging financial crimes that may affect Northwest products and services.
Drive compliance with applicable regulatory and policy requirements.
Apply sound ethical judgment and transparently escalate, manage, and report control issues to Financial Crimes leaders.
Ensure compliance with Northwest policies and procedures and federal and state regulations.
Use Microsoft Office, computer applications, and department-specific software to use technology tools effectively.
Work as part of a team and work with on-site equipment.