SUMMARY

This position is responsible for analyzing alerts to detect irregular or suspicious transactions and prevent losses associated with fraud and financial crimes, taking appropriate action to protect the bank and its customers. This position is responsible for investigating cases of fraud, customer disputes, and assisting with case management including maintaining necessary records and files to ensure efficient and consistent reporting of fraud investigations. Team members interact frequently with customer-facing stakeholders, as well as law enforcement and authorities, and use case management software to track fraud from identification through recovery and resolution.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS)

• Researches, analyzes, and investigates customer account behavior daily for potential fraud and suspicious activity from system generated alerts and referrals escalated by other departments; tracks trends and detects unusual activity or behavior; determines if transactions are fraudulent and/or suspicious in nature such as deposit fraud, check fraud, online account takeover, wire fraud, ACH fraud, etc.
• Responds to inquiries or refers inquiries to the appropriate person and exhibits the necessary follow through with internal and external customers. The specialist will need to explain fraud cases and answer questions related to fraud matters and should be clear and professional in their communication. On occasion urgent matters will need to be escalated. The Specialist will need to exercise sound judgement in determining the need to escalate.
• Process disputes related to check fraud.
• Compiles data and maintains necessary records and files to ensure efficient and consistent reporting of all fraud and suspicious investigations.
• Makes recommendations for closing/restricting accounts, placing holds, disabling account access through various channels and performs associated follow-up to ensure the closure of the accounts.
• Liaise with internal partners, law enforcement, and other financial institutions to investigate fraud events.
• Processes restitution and recoveries.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• To be familiar with various types of financial transactions and be able to reasonably identify counterfeiting, kiting, check washing, less cash scams and other types of bank fraud.
• Comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and all other laws and banking regulations.
• Maintain current knowledge of applicable fraud detection software.
• Assist customers in a prompt, professional and courteous matter.
• Maintain the confidentiality of Bank and customer information.
• Serves as subject matter expert for Community Bank staff on fraudulent transactions and emerging fraud risk.
• Completes all required compliance exams on a yearly basis.
• Adherence to all First United Policies and Procedures.
• Dress professionally.

EMPLOYEE SPECIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Work Experience

• College degree preferred.
• Minimum 3-5 years of fraud/BSA experience required.
• ACAMS, CFE, CFCI, CFCS and/or related certification preferred.
• Knowledge of federal BSA/AML regulations required.
• Familiar with bank operations in general.

Technical/Functional Competencies

• Ability to use standard computer software (MS Outlook, MS Excel) and quickly learn to navigate and operate job-specific software and web-based applications.
• Ability to communicate efficiently and effectively on the phone and through email to internal customers and business partners.
• Demonstrate ability to work independently with little to no supervision.
• Strong work ethic, critical thinking, and problems solving skills with attention to detail.
• Consistently perform in a volume driven environment where workload fluctuates, but deadlines stay the same and service levels must be met.
• Must possess a high level of initiative and a natural investigative demeanor.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment to achieve department goals and objectives consistent with First United's standards of excellence.
• Must be comfortable managing multiple and/or shifting priorities, and produce professional and accurate work product, sometimes under time constraints.
• Must possess the desire to increase learning and gain further expertise in fraud and financial crimes.

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

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