Fraud Managers are quite often the only ones standing between an army of fraudsters at the gates and the crown jewels of their company.     It’s an important job to keep your companies money safe from scammers, fraudsters, and thieves.

And that’s why they need to be on their toes and constantly perfect their craft.

So how do constantly improve and make sure you are being successful and driving back fraudsters day after day?  How do you keep up your fraud manager magic so you can stay one step ahead of the fraudsters?

I will let you in on a few secrets I have observed from some fantastic fraud managers that I have run into.  The all share the same traits, and it’s no surprise that they are all very successful.

These are the 10 things they always have in common.

#1  Take Your Energy To Level 10

Fraud Management is 100% about change management.  And that’s why great fraud managers bring the energy to work every day. You can’t stop fraud if you are not constantly changing.  Fraudsters change every day. You need to as well.

And YOU can’t make people change if you don’t have any drive or passion yourself.

So wake up sleepy head.  Bring your energy level up to a Level 10 and keep shaking things up.  It’s your job to be a force of change with the energy you bring to the table.

#2  Be A Positive Optimistic Force 

Great fraud managers are an optimistic force within a company.  They are not whiners and complainers. They are not naysayers that poo-poo every good idea.  They don’t bash other peoples ideas and offer nothing constructive in return.

They don’t say things like, “It will never work.”  They say things like, “We’ll make it work come hell or high water!”

People might listen to negative people, but they never follow them.  People follow positive people. Leaders are positive.  Negative people are just followers.  Be a leader.  Be a positive person.  Build something great.

If you want to up your Fraud Manager Mojo focus on being a positive force in the organization, not a Negative Nelly.

#3 – Make Your Company Move At The Speed of Fraud

There is always an ROI for a fraud solution if you wait long enough.   The US by example waited 10 years to implement CHIP cards because there wasn’t an ROI.  By the time they did, fraud was crushing US card issuers because they waited too long.

The mistake was that we got complacent.  We moved too slowly and got crushed.

Your job as a fraud manager is to persuade your company to move quickly.  This often times means convincing your company to spend on fraud tools or invest in new processes before the fraud has hit you.

Make your company move fast, fast, fast!

#4 – Stop Being an Old Fogey 

If you want to be a fraud manager, stop acting like you are 99 years old.  The good old days when you could investigate every application or person walking through the door are over.    But so are the horse and buggy.  And guess what?  We can get travel from LA to New York in 5 hours and not 6 months.

If you want to be a great fraud manager, think like a Millennial.   Question the outdated old ways.  Embrace technology.

And if that’s too much for you, head over to Dennys for the Senior Citizens special. It might be time to retire.

#5 –  Become A Fraud Fact Guru

Fraud is a very emotional subject.  When I go into a company to consult with them on how to improve their fraud management I always hear things like, “Our Fraud Department declines everyone!”  And everyone gets upset.   It is so emotional.

But then when I look at the facts and reports, the emotions often give way to common sense.  In fact, I almost always find out that the fraud department is actually declining too few transactions risky transactions and that is why fraud continues to slip through.

The simple fact is – facts and statistics can disarm any emotion.  If you want to be a great fraud manager, you have to learn how to use facts and statistics in every presentation.  What is driving fraud up?  What are the false positives?  What is the customer impact?  What is the impact of attrition?

Become a fraud fact guru and you will be a Fraud Manager Magician.

#6 – Communicate Like A Pro

You absolutely have to become proficient at PowerPoint, Keynote, Excel and other tools if you want to be a great fraud manager.  80% of your job is communicating to others and you need to use the tools of the trade to create compelling presentations and spreadsheets to sell your ideas.

Gone are the days when you could type up a memo on an old typewriter.  The new memo is a stunning presentation with graphs, charts, and facts that guide your company to do the right thing.

If you want to be a great fraud manager you gotta create those mic dropping PowerPoints to wow your audience

#7  –  Be a Jedi Master Teacher Obi-Wan 

Be the expert in fraud. Be the most informed in fraud.  Become the leader in fraud.  And then teach everyone around you how to do the same.

If you can teach the entire organization to spot fraud the way that you do, you can conquer any fraud problem.     Remember your job is to make as many people in the organization help you as often as they can.

If you want to be a great fraud leader spend your time teaching everyone around you. Mentor new graduates and interns.  Take people from other departments under your wing.  Be an advocate of anti fraud and take others along for the ride.

#8 – Leave Politics to the Politicians

Don’t get too embroiled in the office politics.  Keep your head above it and keep fighting for the right thing.  Others might try to take you down because they don’t like what you have to say.  They don’t want to be bothered.

Don’t listen to them.  Keep fighting for what you know is right.  Leave the politics to the politicians.  You just keep focusing on fighting fraud and you will be a success.  Time always reveals the truth.

#9 – Only Fight the Important Fights

There are a million battles to fight on the fraud front each day.  Not are all worth winning.  Only the big ones.

Does that customer service manager want to adjust a process that will impact 1 call a month?  Do you disagree with it?   If so, voice your concern and move on.  You don’t need to fight all the fights.  Just fight the big ones and let the others go.

Fraud Managers that cannot prioritize between big impacts and small impacts are not effective.  They make too many enemies along the way and they are seen as unreasonable.  Your not there to win the fight, your there to win the battle.

#10 –  Watch the Details No Matter How Small

The devil is in the details.  If you want to take your Fraud Manager Mojo to the next level sit down with 20 cases of fraud a day and get to the bottom of how they happened.  Do it everyday and keep your finger on the pulse.

You can’t be an absentee fraud manager and expect to make a big impact.  Fraud Managers that don’t understand the details, don’t understand the fraud. Sit down with your fraud analyst.  Get to know your supervisors.  Listen to some calls and feel their pain for a minute, you might learn some very valuable details.

Thanks for Reading

If you want to increase your Fraud Management Mojo remember to follow the simple guiding principals

1. Being a fraud manager is about managing change quickly.
2. If you want to do it well, you need to focus on how and what you communicate.
3. Stay positive, keep pushing for progress and educating everyone around you.
4. Keep your eye on the details and don’t get embroiled in office politics.

Thanks for reading the blog.  Do you think these ideas can work for you?