The watchdogs of money: examiners, investigators and compliance pros who catch fraud, laundering and market cheating.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
SEC Enforcement Attorney: A government lawyer who investigates and sues people for securities fraud, insider trading and lying to investors. Typical pay $185k.
IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent: A federal agent with a badge and gun who investigates tax fraud, money laundering and financial crimes. Typical pay $115k.
BSA/AML Officer: The executive responsible for stopping money laundering and terrorist financing at a bank. Typical pay $150k.
Financial Regulatory Policy Advisor: Writes and studies the rules that banks and markets must follow, often at the Federal Reserve, Treasury or a regulator. Typical pay $150k.
Fraud Prevention Manager: Leads a bank or payment company's defense against scammers and fraud rings. Typical pay $140k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Bank Examiner: Inspects banks for the government to make sure they're safe, follow the law and won't collapse. Typical pay $92k.
Securities Industry Examiner: Inspects stock brokerages for FINRA or the SEC to catch rule-breaking and protect investors. Typical pay $95k.
Anti-Money Laundering Investigator: Investigates suspicious transactions at banks and writes reports for the government. Typical pay $78k.
Sanctions Analyst: Makes sure a bank or company doesn't do business with sanctioned countries, terrorists or criminals. Typical pay $85k.
Certified Fraud Examiner: Investigates fraud inside companies, like employees stealing or faking records. Typical pay $82k.
Market Surveillance Analyst: Watches trading for signs of manipulation like spoofing, pump-and-dumps and insider trading. Typical pay $88k.
Insurance Department Examiner: Works for a state insurance department checking that insurers can pay claims and treat customers fairly. Typical pay $80k.
Broker-Dealer Compliance Officer: Makes sure a brokerage firm's advisors and traders follow securities rules. Typical pay $100k.
Financial Intelligence Analyst: Analyzes banking data for government agencies like FinCEN to track criminals, cartels and terrorists. Typical pay $95k.
Elder Financial Abuse Investigator: Protects older adults from scams and family members stealing their money, often at banks. Typical pay $72k.
AML Alert Analyst: Reviews alerts from monitoring software to decide which transactions look suspicious. Typical pay $55k.
Consumer Financial Protection Investigator: Investigates lenders, debt collectors and other companies accused of cheating consumers, often for a state attorney general. Typical pay $85k.
Asset Forfeiture Specialist: Tracks, values, stores and sells the cars, houses, cash, yachts and crypto that the government seizes from criminals. Typical pay $85k.
Lottery Security Investigator: Investigates fraud in a state lottery, like store clerks stealing winning tickets, forged tickets and rigged-drawing attempts. Typical pay $78k.
Starter: fastest way in
Bank Fraud Claims Specialist: Helps customers who report stolen cards or fraudulent charges and processes their refunds. Typical pay $46k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.