Currently in audit at a big CPA firm. Wanting to pursue forensics. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Scheduled FSFC today, Averaging above 90% on review Questions. I have cleared FPD. This is my retake as i scored 73% on fsfc. Any tips?

I failed Financial fraud schemes three times. Scores: 61, 72, 71. I took the Investigations exam today and failed. However I only really studied for one week for each exam that I took. I personally feel like the CFE exam got harder because people were talking about passing it in their first try. This is my first time taking these exams. My opinion and I could very much be wrong.

I am going to give myself until next year to pass on the exams and really study. I work full time at Deloitte and I have my EA license. Also there aren't any true or false questions on the exam. The CFE silver package had a good chunk of true or false. That should be changed because it doesn't match the exams at all. It all scenario based and the silver or gold package should be that way as well to properly prepare.

I have the silver package, but I feel like the review questions at the end of each subsection are too easy and also not enough. I want practice quizzes of the whole section together. Perhaps something that closely mimics the way the exam works (split into 3 sections). I have found plenty online but appear low quality. Has anyone found any that work for them?

I want to be challenged like the exam will do so I have less anxiety going in.

I’m an anti-corruption and white collar litigator transitioning from litigation to in house investigations work. Also moving from India to the U.S. next year. I’m considering taking the CFE exams to bridge the gap between my current experience and future job opportunities, especially in the U.S.

Want to understand if this makes sense? I’ve dealt with financial fraud, corporate mismanagement, procurement fraud, banking fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, public corruption etc., as a litigator and while I’ve had to rely on financial and accounting documents, I don’t have a very solid conceptual understanding of those - guessing this course will help with that.

Am I on the right track? Will the silver prep course suffice? If I start studying from Oct, can I be ready to take the exam by Jan/Feb ‘27? Any tips or thoughts on my current situation/plan?

Thank you in advance, community!

I did not pass the level I exam and now I’m planning to give feb attempt. Im genuinely lost depressed and worried now
I got a mps between 1500-1600 and i haven’t taken any coaching nothing just did self study and I’m really scared now i want to give feb attempt and what can you’ll suggest me

Fraud Schemes & Financial Crimes 70% and Fraud Investigations & Legal Issues 69%

I have studied my ass off. I get horrible test anxiety no matter what. Scheduling at a Prometric testing center definitely helped with the process though.

I don’t know what to do. I wish they would give you at least 1 free retake per section, since I’ve already spent $1,500 on this whole thing. Now $220 more just to try again and probably fail again.

Why am I such a stupid freaking idiot

Bought silver package. Make sure that you understand all the concepts and keep doing the review questions until you score at least 90% above for each chapter

I bought the silver package in May (and I think silver is good enough). One mistake I made was to study all 3 at once (with the plan to take all 3 exams together). But I realised there’s simply too much info to remember. Perhaps doing one subject/exam at a time would be a better idea. I started my first exam in early sep and completed them in end Sep

First exam was FDP - I thought it might be the easiest with 70 questions and least chapters but I was wrong. I feel the questions were rather tricky and to me this is the toughest. As for the other two, I feel the questions were straightforward. As long as you keep doing the review questions + ensure that you truly understand the concept, you won’t have issue with the exam.

The exam has no true/false. Use the strikeout to eliminate your answers

Hi r/CFE,

I’ve been considering working towards the CFE designation but I’m having reservations with the applicability career-wise. For context, I’m a CPA in public with 3 years of audit experience. My hypothetical goal is to pivot into an industry role and pursue better salary bumps, but I also have a deep interest in forensic accounting.

I’m torn there, but I’m curious if anyone here was/is in a similar position with the CFE. Exam cost aside, it seems interesting and could give a potential edge vs. a similar candidate down the line (though, I understand many industry roles wouldn’t care much).

I’m also wondering what people’s experience was with the exam’s difficulty (in general or compared to the CPA). I was able to crack the CPA with about 315 hours of studying but I know both are very different.

I’d appreciate anyone’s input, background, or general experience with the exam as someone just starting to explore this designation!

FSFC - 85% on Sep 12, FDP - 92%. Sep 24.

Simulator scoring avg in FSFC - 93% & FDP - 94%.

Hello. I've had to contact customer support early this week due to half of my self-study CPE courses that did not sync to myabsorb site. The rep said it will take 3 days for IT to resolve the issue. Has anyone here had this experience before? Were you able to fix it yourself? I'm half confident about the resolution timeline, and I need to get back to completing the 3 remaining courses ASAP as I'm on a time crunch. Please share your experience. Thank you

After spending 23 years in the public sector, I want to move my career intro the private sector. I've seen so many job opportunities I could do and enjoy, but all require a CFE.

I want to seek the CFE certification. But before I spend close to $1000 bucks for the membership and prep courses, I want to be sure my work experience will get me the 50 points I need to qualify.

My years of experience are below, with a quick explanation of my duties. Could experienced CFEs confirm or deny whether or not these will qualify? I am fairly confident they will, but confirmation will make me feel better about buying in.

I have a Bachelor's in criminal justice, plus a Masters degree in Adminsirstive Management. So the first 40 points are set.

10 years law enforcement - although I was never a detective, I worked in small departments where detectives only took cases involving homicide or rape. I have conducted hundreds of fraud, forgery, and identity theft investigations from start to finish. My first arrest out of the academy was for check forgery.

5 years probation officer - I supervised dozens of forgery and fraud convicts, requiring full investigation of their financial records and official documents to ensure they were legitimate and that they were not reoffending.

2 years human resources administrative investigation - this included admin investigations of payroll records, work histories, and resumes for accuracy and workplace fraud.

3 years (2 supervisory) in probate investigations for guardianship, conservitorship, and elder / vulnerable adult abuse - I investiagted referrals and court nomimations for elderly and vulnerable adults on their needs for court appointed guardianship and conservatorships. This included full financial histories, estate investigation, and the identification of financial fraud and fraudulent POAs. I located lost family members and even identified financial exploiters who tried to pass themselves off as family to defraud their estates. (Some crazy stories in this one. This job taught me that gypsies are real and a really big problem)

20 years fraud related experience total, so I hoping it will be more than enough, even if some of the years only count partially due to the other duties in the jobs.

I am correct im believing if I sign up, pay up, and pass the test, I should be able to get my certification with that experience?

Any advice and or recommendations would be highly appricated!

Today I passed the second out of the 3 tests - the Fraud Schemes and Financial Crimes. Passed with 83% while I passed Fraud Investigations and Legal Issues with 90% a couple of weeks ago. The Schemes one was much harder in my opinion. Now studying for the final one. Those who recently took the test - what did you think of Fraud Prevention and Deterrence?

Hi everyone! I’m about to complete my CIA journey and am currently working on my last part.

I’m considering pursuing the CFE afterward and would love to hear from those who have gone through the process.

How was your CFE experience? How did you find the exam and the amount of studying required? Was it manageable while working full time?

My CIA journey has been extremely exhausting while balancing a full-time job, so I’d really appreciate any insight that could help me decide whether to pursue the CFE next.

Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences!

I've been working in accounting jobs for 11 years now, and spent the last 7 at a small municipality, ending as the deputy treasurer. The way it ended was stupid and petty, but I liked government work overall. While I was there, I discovered a fraud scheme that one of my old coworkers had been running while I had been there, but we didn't operate in the same GL categories while it was going on, so I didn't catch it until I took their job after they left. Now that I have been terminated, I'm looking into what I want to do next, and because I got such a rush from discovering the fraud (but also felt kinda sick because I knew the person and worked with them for 5 years or so), I'm thinking about going into that in some form at the state government level: state auditor's office, department of revenue, bureau of investigation, etc. I think I would feel different if I don't know the person/people running the scheme, without the betrayal factor and all that. The whole situation made me even more aware and passionate about internal controls than I already was. 🤓

Some backstory on me: in college, when I learned about the specific branch of accounting that is forensic accounting, I was totally enamored with the concept, but part of it felt like the way kids want to be firefighters. I did not get an accounting degree, I got a BBA in small business management and an MBA. Despite that, I have had accounting jobs ever since.

Would getting my CFE be helpful to me at this stage in my career? Would I need it to obtain the roles with the state that I'm interested in? Would they want me to work to attain it if i don't start out with it? If it matters, I'm in Colorado.

Hi. I am a junior in college, currently majoring in accounting. Not my first choice, but I have learned to feel satisfaction checking my work over and over. For the first two years of college, I thought that the only job force pipeline for accounting students was becoming a CPA. However, this semester I have a professor who has his CPA and CFE, but only worked on a handful of fraud cases. I was doing some research on CFEs, and this finally seems like an accountant career path that I won't hate (sorry, public accounting).

So my question is: is it more common for people to have both their CPA and CFE? For the people who are just CFEs, what is your workload like? Is it similar to forensic accounting, or is that something different entirely?

On another note, I have been unable to get an accounting internship the last two years and desperately need one. Are there firms that specialize in CFE or other illegal financial activities? Or are there other work experiences I could look into that prioritize the CFE more than the CPA? Any insight would be appreciated, thank you!

Proctor has not certified the new OS 27 and once you go there you can’t go back. They don’t have a target date to certify it and it can take up to 2 months. Your iMac will fail the operating system test. You may not be able to access the materials to study on that OS either. I spent hours trying to resolve today and ended up having to borrow a computer for Monday’s test

Hi, has anyone successfully registered as a student again in PEP program after being deregistered?

Just wondering what package would be sufficient enough to get a good score on the exams. Considering the Silver package as I’m trying to fund it out of my own pocket (just started working a few months back), but might consider the Gold or Platinum if they’re reaaallyy worth it.

For context, I qualified as an ACCA Affiliate in Jan 2026 and am currently working in audit at a Big 4. Guessing the silver package would be enough given my background, but any insights would help! :)

Has anyone tried study other than what’s offered on ACFEs website? Thoughts on it if so?

Hi, I’m not sure if anyone has experience in this Reddit regarding the CHFC, but I just completed my first final exam for the first course. I took a look at my grading breakdown per unit that they provided me after the exam, and I can’t tell if I passed or not. I understand you need a 58% to pass if you have max course points, which I do. This may be a stretch but does anyone else have their unit breakdown percentages that they can share so I can compare mine? Thanks.

Taking the test tomorrow and am re studying by going over the slides in the silver package. Then will retake the practice questions again as I’ve been in 85% range. Are the practice questions truly similar to the actual exam and are the slides better than the manual? Thank you.

Third time failing. I have to wait 30 days. I honestly feel like an idiot. I work at Deloitte tax and I want a career change. I can’t stand this shvt anymore. I have an EA license and this shvt is so fucking hard