Finally passed my CFC exam after two failed attempts — here's what worked

I'm not going to sugarcoat it — the Certified Fraud Examiner credential kicked my butt twice before I finally got through it. The first time I went in basically cold, figured my audit background would carry me. Scored a 67 on Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes and tanked the whole thing. Second attempt I bought a study guide and read it cover to cover but didn't do nearly enough practice questions. Same result, basically.

What finally worked was grinding through a solid CFC practice test bank — like, hundreds of questions — and actually reviewing every wrong answer to understand the WHY behind it, not just memorizing the right letter. I spent about 8 weeks, roughly 90 minutes a night, and focused heaviest on Law and Legal Elements since that was my weakest section. Went from failing to a 79 on that section alone.

Anyone else here studying for it right now? Happy to share the specific exam tips that made the difference for me, especially around the ethics and investigation sections which are sneaky hard.