For the next few days, we're going to highlight BSA professionals and their biggest BSA/AML wins as we countdown to National Financial Crime Fighter Day on Friday, October 26. Today, we have the honor of celebrating the great work Jessica Broad has done as a compliance officer at Gerber Federal Credit Union.
Years in industry: 15 years in finance, 7 years as a compliance officer
How did she get her start?: Before her children were born, Jessica worked for a small bank as a teller. After having kids, she transitioned her career to spend more time with her young family, but she still felt that passion for the financial industry. She loved being a teller so when she was looking to re-enter the industry, her husband suggested she apply at the credit union that he belonged to. He said the tellers were always friendly and that it must be a great place to work because the same tellers had been there for many years. Jessica started with Gerber FCU as a part-time teller and was promoted to a full-time Mortgage Processor within a few years. During this time, she also attended college full-time to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. After 7 years with Gerber FCU, she was promoted to the Compliance Officer. She’s thankful for the path she’s taken to get to where she is because holding different positions within the organization gave her a broad understanding of the day-to-day operations.
What does she love about her job?: Jessica loves the different challenges that arise in her job on a daily basis. She loves when she has to research something to gather more information before making a decision. Being a compliance officer also gives Jessica the power to catch financial bad guys and better protect her members.
What is her biggest BSA/AML win?: Jessica was once able to stop a member from losing almost $10,000 in a wire scam. She noticed a wire transfer come in as a large POS transaction from a local pharmacy. After investigating a little deeper, she realized this was the fourth large wire for this customer at the same location within a week, totaling around $8,000. Before she noted it on the account, the member came into the credit union branch and sent out another wire for $5,000. Jessica immediately called the member and asked what was going on with the wires. The member said her fiancé in Nigeria was opening a gas station, but all of his funding fell through, so she was wiring him the money he needed. Jessica realized this member had drained her savings account, maxed out the cash advance on her credit card and came into the bank to get a loan for appliances to wire the money for this scam.
Acting quickly, Jessica was able to stop two of the wires from the pharmacy, totaling $5,300. After two weeks and countless phone calls, she was also able to get back $4,500 from the wire sent from Gerber FCU. For a member who is living paycheck to paycheck, it meant a lot for Jessica to catch this financial criminal.
Jessica learned some valuable lessons in this “win”: take quicker action the minute something seems off and attach any notes to an account right away so the entire organization is aware of the situation.
On behalf of Abrigo, thank you, Jessica, for all that you do to protect the U.S. financial system! Now, let’s celebrate!
For more information on BSA/AML Day visit the website at BSAAMLDAY.com.
Learn more about our BSA/AML and fraud prevention software, BAM+, and how it can help you in your continued fight against financial crime.
