Gira Thaker

Senior Fraud Investigator with nearly 10 years in UK financial services (Starling Bank, Monese, BrightHouse), investigating payment discrepancies, transaction monitoring alerts and the recovery and repatriation of funds across Authorised Push Payments (APPs), Payment Review Models (PRMs) and card fraud. Experienced in tracing payments between sending and receiving banks, obtaining bank payment details, and reporting accurate daily queue metrics to management. Supports regulatory reporting (SARs to the NCA, CIFAS filings) with meticulous attention to detail.

Led a 15+ night-shift team, staying accurate and calm under tight deadlines. Looking to apply end-to-end payment-chain knowledge and an investigative approach to financial reconciliation in fintech.

Senior Fraud Investigator - Starling Bank

(2024-04 - 2026-06)

• Investigated and resolved Victim and Beneficiary APP and PRM cases, tracing payments between sending and receiving banks and obtaining beneficiary bank payment details to support repatriation and reimbursement.
• Reported live work statuses of a 15+ night-shift team to Fraud Managers and delivered handovers and queue metrics to Day Teams after each shift.
• Acted as delegated manager in management's absence, authorised to approve payments.
• Reviewed and submitted Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the NCA.
• Acted as Complaints Escalation Point and first support contact for investigators and associates, enabling early resolution.
• Handled outgoing customer calls on Victim PRMs and emergency police calls about vulnerable customers.
• Hosted team meetings on red alerts, incoming processes and company-wide updates.
• Trained colleagues on Victim APP and PRM processes as a recognised Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Fraud Investigator - Starling Bank

(2022-05 - 2024-04)

• Managed complex investigations and escalations within a 15+ Fraud Operations night-shift team, handling high nightly case volumes.
• Switched between multiple live queues by risk and severity while meeting strict KPI and Quality Assurance targets.
• Handled outgoing customer calls on Victim PRMs and emergency police calls about vulnerable customers.

CIFAS Investigator - Monese Ltd

(2021 - 2022)

• Performed transaction monitoring and investigated CIFAS matches against customer profiles, separating true matches from false positives.
• Reviewed data for inconsistencies to assess customer acceptability against regulatory and internal policy requirements.
• Documented risk assessments and supported due diligence for customers meeting Source of Funds criteria.
• Filed data with CIFAS, individually and in bulk, for customers meeting financial crime standards.
• Completed SARs and reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in the UK and EU.
• Escalated trends and intelligence briefings to wider teams to limit the impact of financial crime on the business.
• Ran fraud concern checks for external CIFAS members using the National Fraud Database.

Fraud Investigator - BrightHouse

(2017 - 2020)

• Investigated early payments and overpayments from potentially fraudulent customers to support Anti-Money Laundering (AML) operations, working closely with Credit and Risk Teams.
• Closed out large volumes of finance and rent-to-buy applications daily within Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Used Experian credit files for due diligence to GDPR standards and to prevent identity theft.
• Screened applications for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and sanctions through extensive research.
• Collaborated with DWP to investigate customer financial histories.
• Reported to CIFAS, Experian and management, including flagging falsified ID documents.
• Managed communications with third-party market channels and customers to stop hired goods being sold illegally.

Customer Relations Representative - BrightHouse

(2015 - 2017)

• Resolved enquiries and complaints by phone, email, post and social media, including complex complaints reported to the FCA.
• Worked on the Redress Programme, compensating customers wrongly charged in light of affordability checks.
• Trained new joiners.

Technical Support; Customer Service Agent - Sitel

(2011 - 2015)

• Handled customer calls for Sony PlayStation and for banks including Santander and Northern Rock, and supported Mortgage Payment Protection claims calls.

Customer Service Agent - Primark

(2009 - 2009)

Implementation Analyst; Customer Service Incubator - T-Mobile

(1995 - 2009)

• Produced user guides, pricing and world manuals for over 300 handsets, working with product managers and the Handset and Marketing Department.
• Analysed pilot trial support quality and recommended improvements; used Excel, Word, Visio and PowerPoint.
• Supported the launch of WAP and tested new products before rollout.

BTEC National Diploma - Computer Studies

5 CSEs, 2 GCSEs

Maths, English and Word Processing - Pitmans