My CFE journey (ACFE Exam Prep Course)

Hello from Medellín, Colombia!

I wanted to update you guys on my recent certification achievement. I earned my Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credential from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – the world's largest anti-fraud organization. The CFE exam is notorious for being rigorous (50-60% pass rate), so I thought it would take me a few months to prepare for it. CFE has a 90-day exam challenge. However, I got an idea to do it in 4 weeks (1 exam at the end of a week of study). And so, I did! I dedicated one week of study to each section. Once you have activated the exam eligibility, you have to take all four sections within 60 days. I did not take them in the CFE exam preparation order, which is:

1. Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes (I took this second) – 92%
2. Law (I took this first) – 96%
3. Investigation (I took this last) – 93%
4. Fraud Prevention and Deterrence (I took this third) – 88%*

The pass mark is 75%.

*This was my lowest gscore, and I took this exam on October 31st (the Friday following Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica on October 28th). I also took the 29th off from studying because I had experienced a Category 5 hurricane and needed a mental break. The Sunday following the storm, I flew out of Jamaica to attend a conference in Tucson, Arizona. Hence, I had a week’s break between the third exam and the fourth exam.

I paid for the CFE Prep Exam (Gold Package) - $ 1,049 ($ 1,132 including tax). You get 12 months to access the prep course. However, ACFE will end your access once you have passed all 4 sections of the exam. So, I had mine for less than two months. However, they do provide a PDF certificate for completing the CFE prep course. I also have access to the Fraud Examiner Manual as a CFE. I wish I had opted for the silver subscription for $899 + tax. The gold package includes a study guide, which the silver package does not include. However, I never used the study guide. I just completed the interactive lessons with 100s of practice answers, which you would take in increments after each topic within a lesson. Each exam domain had 300–400 questions total. Once I was done studying for the week, I reset the questions and practice for a second round before taking the actual proctored exam through Prometric. I paid $475 for the exam. I was committed to not failing because there is a resit fee of $110 for each failed section. BTW, some people choose not to use the prep course and read the 2,000+ page Fraud Examiners Manual, which requires months of preparation. The manual costs $210 (non-members) and $168 (members).

For those who haven’t taken an exam through Prometric, let me tell you, their security screening is so rigorous. I had to show them all four corners of my ceiling, the walls, and my desk (which could only have my ID, mouse/mouse pad, and laptop). If I were using glasses, they would have to inspect them. I had to show them under my desk, chair, and pull out my pockets. I had to show them behind my ears, my elbows, and the front and back of my palms. I could not wait for the last exam! I do not have any immediate plans for the CFE in terms of work in the industry. It was my dissertation chair (now colleague) who encouraged me to go for it. I thought it would also lend credibility to my extensive experience in teaching white-collar crime, as well as my peer-reviewed publication on white-collar crime education.

If you are working in a fraud-related field and would like to earn the CFE, here is a link to the eligibility requirements: https://www.acfe.com/cfe-credential/eligibility

 

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