Cybersecurity · Free
Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams
Stop the frauds aimed at finance teams: business email compromise, vendor bank-change and invoice fraud, fictitious vendors, the Arup deepfake video call, accounts payable controls that work, scam messages, passwords and MFA, data breach response, and audits, third parties and agreements.
Inside the course
From the lessons
The fraud that targets finance teams
FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation
Business email compromise, step by step
Innovative Technologies
Vendor bank-change and invoice fraud
Debra R Richardson LLC
Deepfakes and the Arup video call
Openn
Controls in accounts payable
ACMO
Scam messages, passwords and MFA
OpenAI
Lesson frames belong to the creators named in the Credits below and are shown from YouTube.
What you will learn
Explain how business email compromise works and recognise its forms; verify vendor bank-detail changes through independent channels; detect invoice fraud and fictitious vendors, including with simple Excel analytics; resist deepfake voice and video requests with callbacks and dual approval; design accounts payable controls from vendor master to bank reconciliation; use scam checks, strong passwords and phishing-resistant MFA; respond to a data breach and meet regulatory reporting deadlines (India's CERT-In and DPDP rules as the worked example); and manage suppliers through audits, assessments and agreements.
- Explain business email compromise and recognise its forms
- Verify vendor bank-detail changes independently
- Detect invoice fraud and fictitious vendors with simple analytics
- Resist deepfake voice and video payment requests
- Design accounts payable controls from vendor master to reconciliation
- Use scam checks, strong passwords and phishing-resistant MFA
- Respond to a data breach and meet regulatory reporting deadlines (India's CERT-In and DPDP rules as the worked example)
- Manage suppliers through audits, assessments and agreements
For you
Taking Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams from the United States
- Free in the United States, as everywhere, and self-paced: lessons, notes and the final assessment are open at any hour, so your time zone and shift pattern do not matter.
- The optional certificate for learners in the United States is a one-off US$23.99. What you get for it
- Plants across the Americas most often run Allen-Bradley, Siemens and Inductive Automation; each has its own free course to take next.
- See automation and engineering jobs in the United States, and what the industry looks like in Houston, Detroit and Chicago.
- EDWartens also has a regional site for the United States, for classroom training and local support: edwartens.com/us.
The course project · about 8 hours
Payment fraud controls review for a finance team: fraud risk register, bank-change procedure, change register and review report
Review and strengthen the payment controls of a mid-sized manufacturer after a near miss, as the finance controller responsible for accounts payable: build the payment fraud risk register, write the vendor bank-change verification procedure, set up the vendor master change register, and report your findings and actions to the CFO. The sample pack shows each document for a polymer manufacturer in Shannon, Ireland. Work only on your own organisation's data or made-up data.
Sample document pack, 4 documents, filled in for the scenario
- Risk registerPayment fraud risk register: accounts payable
- ProcedureVendor bank-detail change verification
- RegisterVendor master change register: July to September
- ReportPayment controls review after the resin supplier near miss
Read inside the course and download as a workbook. The project is optional practice, marked when you submit it; the certificate needs only the modules and the final assessment.
Course content
9 modules · 24 lessons · 2h 19m
In order, at whatever pace suits you. Each module ends with a practice task that builds on the last.
- 01The fraud that targets finance teams3 lessons10m
- 02Business email compromise, step by step3 lessons17m
- 03Vendor bank-change and invoice fraud4 lessons26m
- 04Deepfakes and the Arup video call1 lesson15m
- 05Controls in accounts payable3 lessons23m
- 06Scam messages, passwords and MFA3 lessons14m
- 07When data is stolen: breach response3 lessons14m
- 08Audits, third parties and agreements3 lessons20m
Requirements
- Who it is for
- Beginner. For accounts payable, treasury, finance, audit and office staff who handle payments or approve them. No security background is needed.
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet (Excel or similar) for the analytics exercises and the project. What to download, and how
- Hardware
- None.
Software you need
What to download, where from, what it costs and how to install it. Every link goes to the maker's own site, never a mirror.
Nothing to install
Any spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc) is enough for the calculations.
Optional
Useful, not needed to finish the course.
- 01Free
LibreOffice
The Document Foundation
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11, macOS 11 or newer (Intel or Apple silicon), Linux
- Account
- None needed
- Size
- up to 1.5 GB of disk space on Windows
LibreOffice is free, open-source software under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, for any use including business. Calc is its spreadsheet.
Steps
- 1.Open the LibreOffice download page.
- 2.Check the page has picked your operating system, then select Download.
- 3.Run the installer (administrator rights are needed on Windows).
- 4.Start LibreOffice Calc for spreadsheet work.
- 5.Save as .xlsx if you need to share files with Excel users.
- Choose the latest main version unless your organisation asks for the older, more conservative release.
Official download pagelibreoffice.org
Checked against each maker's own page on 27 September 2026. Trial lengths and editions change; the maker's page is the final word.
Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams at a glance
Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams is a free, self-paced online course from EDWartens for accounts payable, finance and treasury teams. It has 9 modules and 2h 19m of video lessons by Professor Messer, FBI, FTCvideos and others, with written notes and worked problems, a practical project with a document pack and a 15-question final assessment (pass mark 60%). Learning is free with an account; an optional certificate with a public verification code is issued when you pass. Last updated 27 September 2026.
All course factsHide course facts
- Price
- Free, for good. No trial, no card. The only paid item is the optional certificate, a small one-off fee.
- Who it is for
- Accounts payable, finance and treasury teams
- Format
- 9 self-paced modules, 2h 19m of video, written notes, a practice task per module and one final assessment.
- Level
- Beginner. Beginner. For accounts payable, treasury, finance, audit and office staff who handle payments or approve them. No security background is needed.
- Brand
- Vendor-neutral
- Software
- None required. A spreadsheet (Excel or similar) for the analytics exercises and the project.
- Hardware
- None.
- Certificate
- Optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, verifiable by code. Not a vendor credential.
- Video lessons by
- Professor Messer, FBI, FTCvideos, ACMO, FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) (independent creators, credited below)
- Language
- English
- Last updated
- 27 September 2026
A shareable EDWartens certificate
Finish every module and pass the final assessment, and the optional EDWartens certificate is yours. It carries a unique verification code on a public page anyone can check, so it stands up when a recruiter looks it up. See it below.
The course itself stays free whether or not you ever buy one.
Stuck? Ask a practising engineer
A free course usually means a comment section and hope. This one does not. Every module has an Ask-your-trainer panel that reaches the same engineers who teach our paid programme: people who commission panels for a living, not moderators.
Pairs well with
Cybersecurity · FreeCompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Exam PrepPrepare for CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 with Professor Messer's complete free video course: every exam objective across the five domains, with EDWartens notes, worked calculations, practice questions and an optional security project. Exam preparation only: the EDWartens certificate is not the CompTIA Security+ certification, which is earned only by passing CompTIA's exam.
PLC programming · FreeSiemens TIA PortalFrom zero electrical knowledge to a working, simulated S7-1200 program, for nothing.
PLC programming · FreeSiemens TIA Portal in Three HoursThe first three hours of the Siemens TIA Portal course, cut to end on a win: what a PLC is, how it is wired, a project configured in TIA Portal, and your first ladder program running in simulation. Finish it in an evening or two, earn a certificate, and carry straight on into the full course.
PLC programming · FreeTIA Portal: Build a MachineOne machine, start to finish. Take a bottle filling line from a written specification and an I/O list to a structured S7-1200 program with a fill station, a capper, a reject sorter and an operator screen with alarms, then test it against a written record and archive it for hand-over. The lessons are the reference; the machine is yours, and it is what you submit.More free courses: Free cyber security courses · Free AI courses for accounting and finance · Free IT security and SOC analyst courses
Learner reviews
No reviews yet
Reviews here are written only by learners who have finished every module of Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams, and they are published exactly as written. Finish the course and yours will be the first.
Common questions
Who is the Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams course for?
Accounts payable, treasury, finance, audit and office staff who handle or approve payments, and managers responsible for finance controls. No security background is needed.
Is this a CompTIA Security+ course?
No. Several lessons come from Professor Messer's free Security+ SY0-701 series because they explain general security ideas well, but the course is about fraud against finance teams and is not affiliated with CompTIA.
Which countries' rules does it cover?
The controls apply in any country, and India is covered in detail as the worked example: the 1930 helpline and cybercrime.gov.in, the RBI's beneficiary name lookup and Positive Pay System, GSTIN and PAN checks, the CERT-In Directions of 2022 and the DPDP Act 2023 with its 2025 Rules, most of whose duties apply from May 2027. It is not legal advice; check current requirements with your advisers.
Do I need special software for the analytics?
No. The exercises use a spreadsheet: joining a bank-change log to a payment register and matching vendor and employee bank accounts.
How long does the Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams course take?
About 5 hours of video lessons, notes and practice questions, plus about 8 hours if you do the optional project. You work at your own pace.
What is the project in the Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams course?
You review the payment controls of a polymer manufacturer in Shannon, Ireland, after a large bank-change near miss: a payment fraud risk register, a bank-change verification procedure, a vendor master change register with analytics, and a report to the CFO. A sample pack shows each document.
Is the Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams course really free?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the project and the final assessment. The only paid item is the certificate, if you want it.
What certificate does the Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams course give?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you pass the final assessment, with a number anyone can verify on our site.
What you walk away with
Your certificate for Cyber Fraud and Security for Finance Teams
Finish the course, pass the final, and this is the document with your name on it.
Verifiable by anyone
Adds to LinkedIn in one click
QR code on the certificate
Names what you can do
A permanent link
Earned, not attended
Learning is free. The certificate is optional.
Add it now and pay only when you have finished the course, or come back for it later. One-off, US$23.99, with a receipt.
Issued by EDWartens, the training division of Wartens, as a Certificate of Completion for this self-paced course. Sold by Wartens Ltd (England and Wales). It is not a vendor certification, a university award or a CPD-accredited activity, and it does not certify competence on live equipment. Delivered electronically; see the refund policy.
Credits
Who made the video lessons
The video lessons in this course were created by the people below, not by EDWartens. Every lesson streams from its creator's own YouTube channel; EDWartens neither hosts nor sells that footage, and the creators are not affiliated with EDWartens and do not endorse this course. What EDWartens wrote is the study plan, the notes, the practice tasks and the assessments.
- Professor Messerthe CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 lessons on impersonation, phishing, password attacks, multifactor authentication, incident response, audits and assessments, third-party risk assessment and agreement types, used for their general security content
- FBIthe warnings and public service announcement on business email compromise scams
- FTCvideosthe Business Tips videos on data breach response and storing information securely
- ACMOthe best practices for fraud detection and prevention in accounts payable
- AP Nowthe sound bite on the single best protection against accounts payable fraud
- All Things Securedthe explainer on business email compromise as one of the costliest frauds reported to the FBI
- Audit Insightsthe Excel audit analytics for spotting payment fraud through vendor bank account changes
- CPA Hall Talkthe lesson on preventing fictitious vendor fraud
- CyberGuard Hubthe walk-through of a vendor invoice and payment change scam
- Cybersecurity Tutorialsthe warning signs of invoice fraud
- Debra R Richardson LLCthe three-step vendor setup framework against bank-change fraud
- Eli Financialthe lesson on preventing fraud in accounts payable
- Innovative Technologiesthe briefing on the rise of business email compromise and the risk to businesses
- OpenAIthe OpenAI Academy video on spotting scam messages with ChatGPT
- Opennthe account of the Arup deepfake video call fraud
- FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)2 lessons in "The fraud that targets finance teams"
If you are one of these creators and would like a lesson removed or credited differently, write to info@wartens.com.