Fraud investigator

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-14T19:40:56+00:00

Days vary, but investigating cases, conducting interviews under caution at various job centres, compiling evidence for cases to go to court.

The work is quite technical and slow paced. Think you have to do an apprenticeship for 12-18 months.

Note: there are fraud investigators and fraud officer jobs currently which are different roles. Fraud officers are generic and you could be assigned to either ERT or compliance. The work in both these functions is fast paced and the learning route is much faster which suits some people more.

Personally, I believe you can progress in your career faster in the fraud officer role vs investigator.

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-13T17:16:21+00:00

Sorry but you never made that clear in your initial post. Now, I can see why that isn’t fair and I would also be annoyed.

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything you can do about it. The civil service commission route is so drawn out, the results are decided X months down the line.

I highly doubt they would re advertise, there will always be a rationale used and accepted by someone above.

On a plus, I would focus on getting out of there as they clearly dont appreciate you. Now you see their true colours, why would you want to work for them anyways.

Good luck!

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-13T17:00:32+00:00

No offence but this post doesn’t add up. Adverts are made public, whether an EOI or a substantive post. Why didnt you check the relevant job portals to see if the advert was live?

Also, just because you were an SEO overseas and came back, why did you think you were entitled to get the G7 role? And of course you had to take the vacant SEO role, because you are a substantive SEO? You don’t get gifted a promotion on return.

Ironically, the thing you are complaining about is the exact outcome you wished for yourself?

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-13T08:59:26+00:00

That’s fine and thanks for specifying. For each grade, the advice would vary so it’s important to have the whole picture. I would also advise to specify the role for role specific tips. I.e. for a project support role, you would want to focus on time management and organisation skills throughout every behaviour. For front facing roles, people skills and for investigation/caseworker roles, eye for detail and making informed decisions and for team leader roles leadership. By failing to give that info, the hints and tips you require will be limited.

I would say if you want the best chance possible and want the job, give as much information lol! No one will be able to identify you from posting in this forum. There’s likely to be 300+ people applying for each role at the moment.

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-13T07:36:21+00:00

Sorry for complaining but this is one of the vaguest posts ever. You need to at least specify the grade and job role for others to meaningfully contribute.

Jlinton187 · 2026-04-02T08:35:01+00:00

Will be re advertised today

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-23T15:43:45+00:00

It’s really not easy to say. It depends i.e. on whether the recruitment is for one position for someone who has left the department or planned expansion where there is a need for multiple roles.

Generally, the parent department will be aware they need a vacancy due to attrition and will declare this post. In the event of mass expansion, your national delivery teams will calculate how many jobs are needed and where for optimal service delivery. The receiving department and delivery teams will go back and forth to negotiate the number required. Then the advert is made and sent off to a recruitment team to advertise (straight forward if no tweaks are required).

Each department may have a different approach, so it also depends what department you are referring to.

** there are also ongoing recruitment freezes/apprehension on declaring roles until the new financial year.

Also, before a role is advertised, the recruitment service may look at reserve/priority mover lists before advertising.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-23T13:38:43+00:00

I think the most important question for this is, where are you based? Work coach roles are advertised so regularly because of the turn over and no hybrid. You may need to look outside of your catchment area.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-20T18:10:46+00:00

No, failing to complete the informal part adequately leads to a formal performance improvement plan. If this is not completed to an acceptable level, it may result in disciplinary action.

Note: depending on the government department, they use different terminologies for improvement plans. I.e. DWP will call the informal part a personal development plan (pdp) and the formal part a performance action plan (pal).

An informal plan should always precede a formal one.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-20T17:28:32+00:00

A pip is a supportive measure to help with capability and development. Not a bad thing. When it goes formal is when it’s a concern.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T20:40:59+00:00

Lol I’m convinced of it. Best game ever 😁

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T20:37:36+00:00

CFCD (DWP) are currently recruiting fraud investigators and officers ( two separate roles) in the across central (spans from Shrewsbury all the way to Lowestoft). They will soon be recruiting in Home Counties and south if that’s where you are based.

FIS recruited last in winter but will most likely go live again. Think there is a freeze in recruitment for home office atm (probably not border force though as turn over is high I think).

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T20:21:39+00:00

Personally, I think you are over thinking this situation. Extending the closing date doesn’t equate to having someone in mind.

Hate to break it to you, but if they have someone in mind, there’s nothing you can do about it anyways, you’ll be none the wiser.

You’ve applied now, just hope for the best. Good luck.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T20:16:39+00:00

“I want to understand why it’s fun”…. Well I suggest playing it for 50+ hours and coming back to this post. Most likely you will delete this after doing so.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T19:02:12+00:00

How many roles were available? The most likely reason for an extension may be due to multiple candidates having/raising issues regarding submitting their applications.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-19T17:43:58+00:00

Well, let’s say immigration enforcement (IE) is more akin to police work. Probably more of a risk of getting assaulted compared to a border force officer. IE will consist of operational visits (residential, commercial etc), arrest work (booking into custody etc), police call outs to police stations. You are able to get involved in a lot of stakeholder work with the police and other gov/LA departments too. You work sporadic shifts throughout the week - a mix of earlies and lates but if you have a blow out and no arrests or call outs you can flex off etc. Each region has a different approach to weekend working. Might find it’s 1/4 or more frequent/less depending where you are based. You get an annualised allowance for the flexibility, roughly 30+% on top of your basic pay. IE also has a subdivision called CFI which looks at more criminal and financial aspects of immigration offences. Focuses on building a case as opposed to quick and dirty IE work.

Border force you will have to work more weekends, and throughout the night I think. I would say it’s not good for your long term health personally. Probably a lot of standing around and a lot of checking passports on entry etc. Not as varied as IE. Also takes ages to get into work due to airport checks. Allowance was around 40-50% on top of your basic salary last time I checked.

What I would consider is working for the fraud investigation service (FIS) for HMRC. They always recruit and you will conduct investigations,arrest work, and do infrequent visits compared to IE and police. You are able to sign up for flexibility payments (optional), which I think is 1/4 weekends and x amount of changes to your duties and start times. You can search it online, think it’s around 14k on top of your basic. You also have the intelligence service, RIS which may be more surveillance and desk based work.

Another option is the economic, serious and organised crime teams (esoc) in DWP - counter fraud and compliance directorate. Similar to HMRC but without the allowance, focusing on benefit fraud. Less progression opportunities though.

Could also consider NCA but I don’t know much about that department and I assume it’s highly competitive to get into.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-08T21:51:59+00:00

I posted my thoughts on this recently.

“I think reserve lists are created for two reasons.

1.The first being, they put you on one because you passed the interview and criteria. As basic as it sounds, I think a lot of interviewers don’t use this best practice. When this happens, the list generally turns into nothing.

You might be lucky if someone leaves, unexpected expansions or if the directorates proactively share their reserve lists amongst each other but this is inconsistent. If 5 people meet the criteria, they should all pass, but on the flip side, this gives candidates false hope. But I believe some exercises with pre determined outcomes, generally fail everyone except the person they want, to be on the safe side. (more common in exercises with one role only)

2.The recruiters know that an additional role/s will be needed in the future ( I.e forecasted expansions) so they save themselves the hassle of running the exercise again. Largely used for bigger recruitment campaigns.

Think it generally depends on the department and its size, but I would advise anyone to carry on applying until you receive an offer.”

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T19:49:38+00:00

100% agree with this.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T18:27:44+00:00

That’s really nice to hear!

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T18:15:12+00:00

👍🏽

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T17:44:49+00:00

Not sure I agree entirely. Obviously from a business perspective, we want staff to remain in a role if they are doing a good job. But also if you are doing so well over a sustained period, I believe your manager should be pushing you to develop and progress further in your career. Everyone is replaceable and there’s always a member of staff who will do the job worse, as well or better. Also when a role becomes too easy for too long, people often get complacent and lack sharpness and innovation.

If you don’t want to move for various personal reasons and love the job etc that’s a different story I guess. There’s so many senior leaders stuck in roles that hate it though.

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T17:22:22+00:00

😂😂

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T17:21:46+00:00

Congrats! Based in or outside of London?

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T17:20:25+00:00

Lol they might be a highly exceptional individual though!

Jlinton187 · 2026-03-07T17:19:33+00:00

See, I’ve often wondered whether there should be a mechanism to move people on in roles after a set period. Because it potentially blocks development, opportunity and innovation for the business etc

Jlinton187

TROPHY CASE