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Specialist · Updated October 2026

CAMS Certification Exam (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist): free practice test

The flagship ACAMS certification and the most requested AML credential in compliance job ads. The current CAMS program is built on four core courses (financial crime risks and methods, global AFC frameworks, building an AFC compliance program, and tools and technologies) plus a sector and a jurisdiction elective.

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About the CAMS exam

The flagship ACAMS certification and the most requested AML credential in compliance job ads. The current CAMS program is built on four core courses (financial crime risks and methods, global AFC frameworks, building an AFC compliance program, and tools and technologies) plus a sector and a jurisdiction elective.

What's on the exam

CAMS
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Basics
7 key facts
Financial Crime Risks and Methods by Sector
7 key facts
Global AFC Frameworks and Standard Setters
7 key facts
Key Laws and Regulations
7 key facts
Building an AFC Compliance Program
7 key facts
Customer Due Diligence and KYC
7 key facts
Monitoring, Investigations and Reporting
7 key facts
Tools and Technologies to Fight Financial Crime
7 key facts

Each branch is a topic in the official outline. Members see every key fact on the full mind map. Read the free study guide →

How to pass the CAMS exam

  • Most questions are short scenarios. Read the last line first so you know what you're being asked before you read the story.
  • Multiple-select questions give no partial credit. Pick every option that is correct, and only those.
  • 120 questions in 210 minutes is about 1 minute 45 seconds each. Flag long scenarios and come back.
  • There's no penalty for guessing, so answer every question before time runs out.
  • Know FATF's standards cold. Many questions test the international standard, not one country's law.

Save your results and get your Readiness Score

Create a free account after the test: your score by topic, a mistakes bank, the first study-notes topic, flashcards and the AML Red Flags Cheat Sheet.

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What's in the full CAMS prep

Full question bank

150+ exam-style questions written to each official outline. Every answer explained, with the rule it comes from.

Timed exam simulator

Real question counts and time limits, so test day feels like practice day.

Exam Readiness Score

One 0 to 100 number that tells you when you're ready to book. Reach 80 and you're covered by our Pass Guarantee.

Flashcards + spaced repetition

298+ cards that come back right before you'd forget them. Five minutes a day keeps every number fresh.

Key study notes

Each topic boiled down to the 5 to 7 facts that get tested, with the standard or rule behind them.

Mind maps

See the whole exam on one screen: every topic and the facts under it.

Sample questions with answers

These are the questions in the free test above, with answers. Try the test first. You'll learn more by getting some wrong.

1. In which stage of money laundering are illicit funds first introduced into the financial system, for example by depositing cash?
Answer: Placement. Placement is the first stage: getting criminal proceeds into the financial system. Layering then hides the trail with complex transfers, and integration returns the funds as apparently legitimate wealth.
2. A customer moves funds through a chain of wire transfers between accounts in several countries, with no clear business purpose. Which laundering stage does this most likely represent?
Answer: Layering. Layering separates the money from its source through a series of transactions, often across borders, to make the audit trail hard to follow.
3. A customer makes several cash deposits of $9,500 at different branches on the same day. What is this activity commonly called?
Answer: Smurfing or structuring. Breaking cash into amounts below a reporting threshold to avoid the report is structuring (often called smurfing when several people are used). In the US it is a crime under 31 U.S.C. 5324, even if the cash is clean.
4. Which of these is a classic red flag of trade-based money laundering?
Answer: An invoice price far above the market value of the goods. Over- and under-invoicing let value move across borders disguised as trade. Prices out of line with market value, phantom shipments and misdescribed goods are the key red flags.
5. Which body sets the international standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, known as the 40 Recommendations?
Answer: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF, an intergovernmental body founded by the G7 in 1989, publishes the 40 Recommendations and runs mutual evaluations of member countries.
6. What is the Egmont Group?
Answer: An international network of financial intelligence units (FIUs). The Egmont Group connects national FIUs so they can share financial intelligence securely. The Wolfsberg Group is the association of global banks.
7. FATF's approach that requires countries and firms to identify, assess and understand their ML/TF risks and apply measures in proportion to them is called the:
Answer: Risk-based approach. FATF Recommendation 1 sets the risk-based approach: stronger measures where risk is higher, simplified measures where risk is proven to be lower.
8. Under FATF standards, a foreign politically exposed person (PEP) should be treated as:
Answer: Always higher risk, requiring enhanced due diligence. FATF Recommendation 12: foreign PEPs always require enhanced measures, including senior management approval, establishing source of wealth and source of funds, and enhanced ongoing monitoring. Domestic PEPs need enhanced measures when the relationship is higher risk.
9. Which of these is NOT one of the core pillars of a US BSA/AML compliance program?
Answer: A guarantee that no suspicious activity will occur. The pillars are internal policies, procedures and controls; a designated compliance officer; ongoing training; independent testing; and risk-based customer due diligence. No program can guarantee that crime won't happen.
10. Under the US Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule, a beneficial owner under the ownership prong is any individual who owns, directly or indirectly, at least:
Answer: 25% of the equity interests. 31 CFR 1010.230 uses a 25% ownership prong plus a control prong (one individual with significant responsibility to control or manage the entity).
11. A US bank must generally file a Suspicious Activity Report within how many calendar days of the initial detection of facts that may form the basis for a SAR?
Answer: 30 days. The deadline is 30 calendar days after initial detection. If no suspect is identified, it can be extended by another 30 days, to a maximum of 60 days.
12. An employee tells a customer that the bank has filed a suspicious activity report about them. This is called:
Answer: Tipping off. Disclosing that a SAR or STR has been filed, or that an investigation is under way, is tipping off. FATF Recommendation 21 requires countries to prohibit it.
13. What is the main weakness of a purely rules-based transaction monitoring system?
Answer: It tends to generate high volumes of false positives. Static rules and thresholds catch many legitimate transactions. Tuning, segmentation and analytics or machine learning are used to cut false positives without missing real risk.
14. Before relying on a new machine learning monitoring model, a firm should above all make sure that:
Answer: Its outputs can be explained, validated and governed. Regulators expect model risk management: independent validation, documentation, explainability and ongoing performance monitoring, whoever built the model.
15. Which statement about terrorist financing compared with money laundering is correct?
Answer: Terrorist financing can use legitimately earned funds and often small amounts. Money laundering hides the criminal source of funds. Terrorist financing is about the destination: funds can come from legitimate sources such as salaries or donations, and amounts are often small.

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Certification guide

ACAMS eligibility credits: how to reach 40 or 60: Before you can sit CAMS, CGSS, CAFS or CCAS, ACAMS needs to see 40 eligibility credits plus an active membership. Advanced certifications need 60 credits or an active CAMS. Credits come from your education, your anti-financial crime work experience and training. Here's how to count them.

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Exam details are summarized from the official candidate information available in October 2026. ACAMS changes formats and fees, so confirm with ACAMS (Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists) before you book. AMLExamPrep is not affiliated with ACAMS or Pearson VUE.

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