Sara Liz Pickett

Fraud & AML Operations Risk Analyst

Truist

Mar 2026 - Current (8 months)

• Investigated complex AML and fraud cases across global private wealth brokerage accounts. Mitigated $1.2M+ in financial crime risk by investigating and decisioning high-risk AML and Fraud typologies such as account takeovers, synthetic identities, ID theft, micro-penny stocks, structuring, pump-and-dump, and money mules.
• Conducted end-to-end transaction analysis via automated surveillance and manual data reviews to resolve 25 to 40 complex alerts daily, reducing my false positives by 25% while successfully clearing 2,000+ cases overall within strict regulatory deadlines.
• Performed enhanced due diligence (EDD) on high-risk clients, including politically exposed persons (PEPs) and foreign entities, to assess reputational and r

Sr. Global AML Investigator - Surveillance & Complex Investigations

Bank of America

Aug 2025 - Current (1 year 3 months)

Global Financial Crimes Investigator (AML) - Surveillance & Complex Investigations

Bank of America

Jul 2025 - Dec 2025 (6 months)

• Conducted complex AML investigations identifying illicit funds, misuse of legitimate accounts, and suspicious sources of wealth. Completed 1 SAR or No SAR daily and maintained a monthly 97% average QA score.
• Analyzed 400+ transactions per complex escalated cases across multiple financial instruments, various account types (ie: traditional deposit, brokerage & investment, payment & transaction, credit & lending, business & entity, and cross-border & high risk), identifying suspicious patterns including structuring, layering, cross-border wires, P2P abuse, crypto flows, rapid movement of funds, and CTR evasion.
• Evaluated retail brokerage-specific AML risk indicators such as wash trading, rapid in-and-out trading, third-party d

Risk Management Specialist

Intuit

Dec 2024 - Aug 2025 (9 months)

• Managed a high-volume fraud queue of 600–800 cases monthly in a fast-paced environment. Consistently exceeding SLA, accuracy, and productivity targets, with an average monthly QA/QC score of 96%.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to resolve complex customer issues, particularly with fraud patterns and high volume of chargebacks and dispute resolutions. Researched claims of unauthorized transactions per Regulation Z guidelines and processed billing disputes in accordance with MasterCard and Visa Regulations.
• Analyzed customer information, transaction activity, and financial patterns to identify potential fraud, risk trends, and anomalies. Created reports of findings for senior leadership which led to operational and ru

Sr. AML & Fraud Investigator

TD

Jun 2024 - Dec 2024 (7 months)

• Conducted in-depth AML investigations identifying structuring, P2P abuse (Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, PayPal), rapid fund movement, excessive cash activity, and monetary instrument misuse.
• Performed AML investigations on retail brokerage accounts by analyzing trading patterns and intent, source of funds, market behavior, cash-to-securities movements, journal entries, and account linkages to assess suspicious activity and SAR filing decisions.
• Reviewed and dispositioned 350+ transactions per escalated complex cases daily, analyzing onboarding documents, CTRs, UTRs, wires, and check images to assess money laundering risk. Also, successfully managed high-volume alert queues. Maintaining 7- 12 alerts per hour per day. Drafted end-to

Sr. AML Investigator

TD

Jun 2024 - Dec 2024 (7 months)

∙ Conducted in-depth risk assessments to identify potential money laundering activity ranging from structuring, peer-to-peer transaction activity (ie, Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal), rapid rotation of funds, excessive cash deposits and withdrawals, and monetary instrument abuse. Retrieved and analyzed a high volume of onboarding documents, transactions, CTRs, UTRs, wire transactions, and check images.

∙ Created manual SAR narratives and was responsible for end-to-end anti-money laundering investigations. Questioned customer’s source of funds and other necessary KYC information to make an independent determination to follow through with SAR filing or document a detailed No Further Action case document.

∙ Responsib

Fraud Operations - AML Investigator & Analyst

PwC

Sep 2023 - Feb 2024 (6 months)

Through PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), was contracted to work with USAA Credit Union’s Financial Crimes Unit. USAA is a trusted historical credit union with over 9.4 million members across the United States.
• Investigated a wide range of money laundering and fraud schemes, including structuring/smurfing, cryptocurrency and digital payment laundering, real estate and professional services laundering, shell company misuse, betting/cash-out schemes, prepaid/stored-value card laundering, money mules, account takeover (ATO), identity and synthetic ID fraud, first-party fraud, elder financial abuse, romance scams, and corporate investigations. Collected and analyzed KYC documentation in accordance with regulatory standards.
• Initiated

F

Fraud Detection & Prevention Consultant

Jun 2022 - Sep 2023 (1 year 4 months)

• Consulted with RedStrings, a fraud-tech startup, providing investigator-driven feedback on product usability, detection logic, and workflow efficiency, supporting UAT-style testing and enhancements. Ensured real-world readiness and strengthened fraud detection accuracy.
• Designed and delivered e-commerce fraud prevention training for Undefined Beauty, reducing employee on-boarding and training time by 58%.
• Led daily transaction monitoring across direct-to-consumer and major retailers including Amazon, Ulta, Whole Foods, and Target.
• Supported e-commerce platform development by advising on fraud detection guardrails and control design.

Fraud & Risk Management Analyst - Emerging Fraud Trends

Shopify

Mar 2021 - Jun 2022 (1 year 4 months)

Responsible for a high volume of e-commerce (apparel, tech, hospitality, & non-profit) financial crime cases while uncovering emerging fraud trends on the Shopify Payments, PayPal, Klarna, and Affirm platforms. Daily complex cases included analyzing dynamic global e-commerce fraud rings and activity in high-risk fraud countries like Brazil, India, China, and Russia.
• Managed 40-60 complex cases daily for small, medium, and enterprise-level businesses while ensuring holistic detailed case notes were properly documented and followed quality assurance guidelines—holistic analysis allowed for rapid and decisive fraud assessment decisions.
• Mitigated fraud-related losses month after month resulting in $0 financial losses under my cas

Product Specialist - Fraud & Compliance AI & ML Solution

DataSeers

Jul 2020 - Mar 2021 (9 months)

Leveraged deep transaction monitoring and fraud operations experience to enhance the usability and effectiveness of FinanSeer, an AI-driven fraud and compliance platform for banking and payments. Served as a subject-matter expert supporting banking clients and analysts while advising on fraud strategies, detection logic, and compliant use of the platform.
• Partnered with the domestic and international engineering team to support UAT-style testing, validate requirements, and implement investigator-driven product enhancements that significantly improved end-user workflows for Fraud, Compliance, and Reconciliations teams. Developed advanced expertise as an AI Training Specialist supporting AML and fraud detection models.
• Provided

Sr. Fraud & AML Analyst

Brightwell

Jul 2018 - Jul 2020 (2 years 1 month)

Managed fraud prevention and detection of global POS and peer-to-peer transactions for payroll cards of 300,000 users. Led and developed procedures and best practices for fraud and AML monitoring of low and high-risk clients and users.
• Monitored (daily) 2,000 - 4,000 transactions and authorizations for abnormal activity. Analyzed big
data sets for large to small-dollar Visa and Mastercard card testing attempts and ACH transactions.
Created reports and documentation of findings that were distributed to the leadership team.
• Led key fraud detection and transaction monitoring activities across 10,000+ Visa and Mastercard payroll cards, saving the organization $2.8 million in potential fraud losses.
• Successfully ma

Fraud & Finance Data Analyst

InComm

Jan 2018 - Jul 2018 (7 months)

Responsible for reconciliations and account management of domestic and international big box retailer’s pre-paid & gift card transactions (e-commerce & brick and mortar) and accounts receivable. InComm, a global financial technology company specializing in prepaid gift, reward, and incentive technologies, leaned on its Data Analyst team for timely and accurate balance collection, fraud detection, performance reporting, and in-depth brand trend data analysis.
• Monitored and reconciled variances between various big data sets for brand partners grossing $500,000 - $2 million weekly via invoicing databases, brand partner data, and Oracle.
• Owned and drove the development of analytical solutions for business KPIs / metrics to minimiz

Fraud & Data Analyst

i Verticals

Jan 2017 - Dec 2017 (1 year)

Utilized fraud monitoring, detection, and prevention skills from a merchant services perspective. Under tight deadlines, managed large and diverse (e-Commerce, education, health care, non-profit, property management, municipality, and retail & hospitality) merchant accounts to determine which transactions (card-not-present and card present) are legitimate or fraudulent.
• Monitored transaction activity of 8,000 merchants and analyzed 1000-3000 transactions daily in First Data, Global Payments, TSYS, and Sage queues. Using trendspotting, historical merchant data, rule parameters, and scoring systems, I identified fraudulent activity on merchant accounts including card testing, account takeover, shipping fraud schemes, and identity theft

T

Fraud Analyst

The Park LLC Revel Systems

Feb 2014 - Apr 2016 (2 years 3 months)

Hired to monitor and identify suspected fraud and theft via POS surveillance and strategic inventory management tactics. Responsible for analyzing POS data to identify refund and transfer fraud transactions. Developed and implemented strategies to reduce house shrinkage / shortage by 45%.
• Developed sound knowledge of credit systems, financial collections, debt management, reporting, and all related credit-based system operations.
• Identified employee payment processing theft techniques and conducted in-depth research and evidence gathering to bring forth confessions regarding patterns of fraudulent transactions in the POS system.
• Conducted monthly operational audits and staff awareness training.
• Led surveillance a

Operations Manager

Ginger Liz Colour Collection

Jan 2013 - Jan 2016 (3 years 1 month)

Oversaw and managed operations of the business including Brand Development, Production, Sales & Distribution, Transaction Processing/E-Commerce, Loss Prevention, Marketing & PR, and Product Development.
• Responsible for 50+ products sold to national and international retail outlets and all e-commerce and wholesale management.
• Performed analysis and research of the marketplace to identify trends (packaging, ingredients, etc.). Under tight deadlines, prioritized key trends to incorporate into product development.
• Managed administrative tasks, accounting functions, purchasing, customer database, CRM, inventory control, and product/service supplier relations.
• Monitored inventory management tools to carefully identify

Data Analytics & After Sales Manager | Rocket Internet, Inc & GlossyBox Online Subscription

Rocket Internet SE

Jan 2012 - Jan 2013 (1 year 1 month)

Developed expertise in recording, interpreting, and analyzing data in a dynamic environment. Compiled top-tier brands' consumer research goals. Worked with these luxury retail brands to create in-depth customer research tools tailored to brand partners’ data collection needs and objectives. Analyzed collected data and survey responses to craft actionable recommendations for brand partners. Delivered data-driven recommendations in formal presentations to brand partners like Burberry, Estée Lauder, and Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group.

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Sara Liz Pickett

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