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ACAMS Certified AFC Investigator Exam (formerly Advanced CAMS-FCI): free practice test

ACAMS' advanced certification for financial crime investigators, FIU staff and investigation managers. It covers complex investigations of money laundering and other financial crime: planning, gathering and analyzing evidence, open-source intelligence, advanced typologies, working with law enforcement and reporting.

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About the AFC Investigator exam

ACAMS' advanced certification for financial crime investigators, FIU staff and investigation managers. It covers complex investigations of money laundering and other financial crime: planning, gathering and analyzing evidence, open-source intelligence, advanced typologies, working with law enforcement and reporting.

What's on the exam

AFC Investigator
Planning and Managing Investigations
7 key facts
Evidence, Data and Open-Source Intelligence
7 key facts
Advanced Typologies and Complex Structures
7 key facts
Analysis, Interviews and Case Building
7 key facts
Reporting and Working with Law Enforcement
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 AFC Investigator exam

  • Questions are written from an investigator's seat: what's the next best step, which source is most reliable, what's missing from the case.
  • Know information-sharing tools such as US 314(a) and 314(b) and their rules.
  • Learn complex structures: shell companies, trusts, nominees, trade-based laundering and professional money laundering networks.
  • 90 questions in 3 hours. Long case studies take time, so answer short questions quickly.

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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 AFC Investigator prep

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

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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. What is the first step when opening a complex financial crime investigation?
Answer: Define the scope and objectives, and plan the sources and steps needed. An investigation plan sets the question to answer, the subjects, period, data sources and milestones. It keeps the work focused and defensible.
2. Under section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act, US financial institutions may:
Answer: Share information with each other about possible money laundering or terrorist activity, if they have notified FinCEN. 314(b) is a voluntary safe harbor for institution-to-institution sharing. Each must file a notice with FinCEN, renewed every year. 314(a) is FinCEN's request to institutions on behalf of law enforcement.
3. When a bank receives a 314(a) request from FinCEN, it must search its records and report any match within:
Answer: 14 days. Institutions search the listed subjects against their account and transaction records and report positive matches to FinCEN within 14 days.
4. Which source is generally the most reliable for confirming who owns a company?
Answer: Official corporate registry filings, supported by documents from the company. Primary, official sources rank highest. OSINT from media and social sites is useful for leads, but should be corroborated.
5. A company imports goods invoiced at $2 million, but customs data shows similar goods normally sell for $400,000. Which typology does this suggest?
Answer: Over-invoicing to move value out of the importer's country. Paying $2 million for goods worth $400,000 moves about $1.6 million out to the exporter's side. Over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports are classic TBML methods.
6. The Black Market Peso Exchange is a scheme that:
Answer: Swaps drug dollars in the US for pesos in Colombia via brokers and trade goods, avoiding the banking system's controls. Peso brokers buy cartels' US dollars and sell them to importers who need dollars for goods. The value moves through trade, a well-known TBML and informal value transfer scheme.
7. A professional money laundering network typically:
Answer: Provides laundering services to criminal groups for a fee, often using shell companies and complicit professionals. FATF's report on professional money laundering describes organizations, networks and individuals who launder for others as a business.
8. Funds are lent to a company from an offshore entity owned by the same person who controls the company. This is often called:
Answer: Loan-back scheme. In a loan-back, criminal funds are 'lent' back to the launderer, creating a legitimate-looking source of money and sometimes tax-deductible interest.
9. Link analysis software is mainly used to:
Answer: Visualize relationships between people, companies, accounts and transactions to reveal networks. Link charts expose hidden connections such as shared addresses, phone numbers, directors and payment flows.
10. In a financial investigation, the 'net worth method' compares:
Answer: A subject's increase in net worth plus spending with their known legitimate income, to estimate unexplained funds. If assets and spending grow by far more than legitimate income explains, the difference points to unreported or illicit income.
11. An investigator finds that the director of a customer company is also director of 200 other companies registered at the same address. This most likely indicates:
Answer: A nominee director or company formation agent, which may hide the real controllers. Mass directorships and shared registered addresses are typical of formation agents and nominees. Investigators need to find the beneficial owners behind them.
12. What is the main purpose of open-ended questions at the start of an investigative interview?
Answer: To let the person give their account in their own words before specifics are tested. Open questions gather the person's version and build rapport. Closed and challenging questions come later to test details against the evidence.
13. Law enforcement asks a bank to keep a suspicious account open so they can continue an investigation. This is usually done with a:
Answer: Keep-open letter (request) from the agency. Keep-open requests should be in writing. The bank still decides whether to keep the account open and must keep monitoring and filing SARs as needed.
14. An investigator suspects a colleague is helping a customer evade controls. What should they do?
Answer: Escalate through the confidential internal channel (such as compliance or investigations) and preserve evidence. Insider involvement needs discreet escalation, evidence preservation and, often, a separate investigation team. Tipping off the colleague or customer must be avoided.
15. Why do investigators prepare a case summary or memo even when no SAR is filed?
Answer: To document the work done, the evidence reviewed and why the decision was reached, for auditors and regulators. Decisions not to file must be as well documented as decisions to file. Regulators test both.

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Certification guide

ACAMS advanced certifications: AFC Auditor, Investigator and Risk Manager: ACAMS' advanced certifications are for experienced professionals who already lead audits, investigations or risk programs. They used to be called Advanced CAMS-Audit, Advanced CAMS-FCI and Advanced CAMS-Risk Management. Today they're the Certified AFC Auditor, Certified AFC Investigator and Certified AFC Risk Manager. Each needs 60 eligibility credits or an active CAMS, and each exam has 90 multiple-choice questions in about 3 hours.

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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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