Practical banking education
Notice the signs.
Choose the next step.
Four visual banker–customer conversations. Choose your words, see the response, and practice a safer next step.
Estimated 40–55 minutes · Self-paced · No sign-in or payment
Start a fraud-awareness conversation
AI-generated illustrative scene; fictional people.Your learning route
Start with the facts, practice the decisions, then try a fresh assessment. Revisit any section at your own pace.
0 of 4 customer conversations completed
Every lesson includes a visual conversation with speech bubbles, reply choices and a chance to repair a poor response.
0 of 8 practice cases solved
Practice progress and assessment results last only for this open page. They are not saved, synced or submitted. Reflections are private and unsaved. A practice pass is not an institutional training record.
Lesson 1 / about 8–12 minutes
Recognize the pressure. Start a calm conversation.
By the end: Recognize scam warning signs and choose an appropriate verification step.
Connect it to your experience
The essential idea
A caller claiming authority, an urgent payment deadline and instructions to keep a transfer secret can signal a scam. A familiar name or convincing voice is not enough to verify a request. Use approved questions, independent contact details and your institution’s fraud process. A warning sign calls for review; it does not prove guilt or automatically authorize a transaction block.
Walk through an example
“You mentioned the caller asked you to move money to protect it. How did they contact you? Let’s use an independently verified contact method and involve our authorized colleague before proceeding.” Follow your role’s process and avoid promising that funds can be recovered.
Source: CFPB scam warning signs. Links and scope below.
Choose your words · Conversation 1 of 4
“The caller said this account will protect my money.”
Fictional practice: Rosa requests a transfer after an unsolicited caller claims to be the bank. The caller demands secrecy and wants her to remain on the phone. You must follow your institution’s approved verification and fraud process.
Fictional practice case 1
The safe-account caller
A customer says a caller claiming to be their bank told them to move funds to a “safe account” today. The caller insists they stay on the phone. What is the best next step?
Fictional practice case 2
A convincing familiar voice
A customer received a voice message apparently from a relative requesting an urgent transfer. What is a useful verification step?
Lesson 2 / about 8–12 minutes
Observe facts. Make a useful internal referral.
By the end: Separate observable facts from assumptions and choose a secure referral route.
Connect it to your experience
The essential idea
BSA means Bank Secrecy Act; AML means anti-money laundering. Frontline employees support the institution’s process by recognizing unusual activity and referring it through approved channels. Capture what you directly observed: transaction details, time, the customer’s actual explanation and actions taken. Separate quotations from your interpretation. Do not treat a customer’s appearance, accent or background as evidence of wrongdoing. Authorized reviewers assess context and decide what reporting is required.
Walk through an example
Useful note: “At 10:20 a.m., the customer requested a transfer and stated, ‘The caller told me not to tell the branch why.’ I referred the request to the supervisor under the fraud procedure.” Less useful: “Customer looked guilty.” Use only approved systems for actual records.
Source: FFIEC suspicious activity identification and referrals. Links and scope below.
Choose your words · Conversation 2 of 4
Ask for facts without making an accusation.
Fictional practice: Rosa says a caller instructed her not to explain a transfer’s purpose. You need approved transaction questions and a factual internal record. Her identity, accent and appearance are not evidence of wrongdoing.
Fictional practice case 1
Facts that travel well
Which note best supports a reviewer?
Fictional practice case 2
The convenient chat
You need to refer a transaction concern. A coworker offers to receive customer records in a personal messaging app. What do you do?
Lesson 3 / about 8–12 minutes
Cash reporting and structuring are different questions.
By the end: Recognize a basic cash aggregation trigger and refer possible reporting evasion without coaching it.
Connect it to your experience
The essential idea
A Currency Transaction Report (CTR) is not an accusation. For this basic example, assume no exemption: known cash-in transactions by or on behalf of the same person totaling more than $10,000 in one business day require aggregation. Cash-in and cash-out are considered separately; do not net one against the other. A check deposit is not automatically a currency transaction. Structuring concerns involve an intent to evade reporting or recordkeeping and can arise across days. Smaller amounts alone do not establish that intent. Never suggest splitting transactions to avoid a report.
Walk through an example
An established customer makes $6,000 and $5,000 cash deposits in the same business day. If known to be by or on behalf of the same person and no exemption applies, the cash-in total is $11,000. Follow the reporting workflow. Separately, refer any observed indication of intended evasion for authorized review.
Source: FinCEN CTR FAQs; FinCEN structuring guidance. Links and scope below.
Choose your words · Conversation 3 of 4
“Can I divide the deposit to avoid a report?”
Fictional practice: no exemption applies. The institution knows Rosa’s same-business-day cash-in deposits are $6,000 and $5,000. Follow the cash-reporting workflow and refer observed concerns under procedure.
Fictional practice case 1
One day, two cash deposits
Assume no exemption. Your institution knows that cash deposits of $6,000 and $5,000 during one business day are by the same person. What next?
Fictional practice case 2
“How do I avoid the report?”
A customer asks how to divide a cash deposit so the bank will not report it. What is appropriate?
Lesson 4 / about 8–12 minutes
Protect confidentiality. Keep the customer informed.
By the end: Distinguish SAR confidentiality from permitted transaction communication.
Connect it to your experience
The essential idea
A Suspicious Activity Report (SAR), and information revealing its existence, must be protected. Do not disclose a SAR to the customer involved or speculate about whether one was filed. That does not mean staff must refuse all fraud-related discussion. September 2026 interagency guidance clarifies that appropriate communication about underlying transactions, concerns and protective steps can occur without revealing a SAR. Use the institution’s approved language and escalation process.
Walk through an example
Customer-facing example: “I can review the transaction details and explain the next steps available under our process.” Discuss the facts within your authority. Do not say, “We filed a SAR on you.” A frontline referral is also not a statement that a SAR has been filed.
Source: FinCEN / interagency SAR confidentiality statement, September 2, 2026. Links and scope below.
Choose your words · Conversation 4 of 4
Protect confidentiality and keep helping.
Fictional practice: Rosa asks about a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). You must protect confidential reporting information while using approved language for permitted transaction questions. The exercise does not establish whether a report exists.
Fictional practice case 1
The direct question
A customer asks, “Did you file a suspicious activity report about me?” Choose the best response strategy.
Fictional practice case 2
The useful fraud conversation
A colleague says SAR confidentiality prevents asking the customer about a transfer’s purpose. What is the best correction?
Independent application
Make the next decision.
Answer all eight questions, then submit for explanations. Seven correct earns a practice pass and unlocks a printable completion certificate. You may retry. This is educational practice, not a professional credential or verified workplace authorization.
Practice pass achieved
You met the practice threshold for Fraud & AML Awareness. This is not a professional certification or a verified institutional training record.
Continue your development
Use the next tool with a purpose.
Revisit any case you found difficult. For a printable reference, explore the fraud and AML resource library. Product pages state the format and price; the Academy course remains free.
Explore fraud and AML learning resourcesKeep the habit
Notice. Ask. Refer. Protect.
- Identify the actual warning sign, without judging appearance or background.
- Use permitted questions and independently verified contact details.
- Capture observations and customer statements accurately.
- Use the approved secure referral and reporting workflow.
- Do not coach reporting evasion or promise safety or recovery.
- Protect SAR information while explaining permitted transaction facts.
After your next relevant transaction, check your response against the approved fraud and referral procedure. Ask your supervisor about any uncertainty. In one week, revisit a case you found difficult.
Open printable job aidSources and course scope
Research reviewed October 31, 2026. Conversation guidance rechecked November 1, 2026. Introductory U.S. frontline fraud and AML awareness. This is not a complete BSA compliance program, SAR filing guide, sanctions course or institutional transaction authorization. Filing thresholds, exemptions, reporting deadlines, customer identification and account restrictions require the appropriate current procedures and authorized review.
- CFPB: scam warning signs
- FFIEC: suspicious activity identification and referral
- FinCEN: CTR FAQs and aggregation
- FinCEN: structuring guidance
- Interagency SAR confidentiality clarification, September 2026
- Interagency SAR FAQs, October 2025
Free educational course · Not a professional certification.