I am deeply sad to dont see my name on graduate list and got a answer from ACAMS ( never see when you are graduate you have to pays always to have your name on list). I faced so many struggle while preparing, despite health issues i payed for renew twice my membership, work in many difficuties du to my health, i want to cry for disappointment. Every thing is money with ACAMS only money!
Response from ACAMS· Apr 3, 2024
Dear Eva,
We are sorry to hear about your recent experience. We would be happy to discuss your specific concerns with you and request your contact details for us to do so. Thank you, Team ACAMS.
KW
Kaiful W.
Posted
Is it a scam to loot candidates?
Is it a scam to loot candidates?
I passed my exam on 1st December 2023 , I received a mail from acams on 14march 2024 that my certificate has been suspended siting below resons:
"Specifically, your CAMS exam on
12/1/2023
surpassed our threshold for Extreme Similarity, which typically indicates the use of shared exam content, often from an exam dumps site, the use of which are prohibited for reasons
explained below.
ACAMS certification questions are the copyrighted intellectual property of ACAMS, and copying, reproducing, distributing, or sharing is strictly prohibited, as stated in the Test Taker Agreement you signed prior to taking the exam (See highlighted sections of the Test Taker Agreement, attached).
Furthermore, by signing the Test Taker Agreement, you represented that you had not received exam questions from others.
Lastly, the Test Taker Agreement informs you of potential penalties for failing to abide by the requirements including, but not limited to revocation of your certification
and ACAMS membership. "
I was in shock reading after reading the mail. All my a year of hardwork and huge exam fee is on stake because of their algorithm which states that I might have got all the acams questions from some source. I was amazed by this reason so I went online searching is it even possible to get real exam questions of Acams so easily? Prestigious exams like acams is giving reasons that I might have used real exam questions available somewhere ,God knows where, if it was this easy to get exam questions every body would have passed and would have saved their retake money. Acams has all the things designed in such a way where they can charge you for every thing be it rescheduling,retaking whatever.
Anyways ,they gave me two options, either to appeal or to retake with their minimum fee.
I formally appealed giving all the evidences of my preparation from last one year ,my notes, my short notes everything but I received a mail today that it has been denied and I need to retake the exam because their algorithm states of using outside exam materials to pass the exam.
I mean ,are they even for real? Can they give me proofs of having used other study materials? How can they dupe me of my hard earned money and what about my time invested and the trauma they are causing ? They need to understand that it's a lot of money and several months of time which has been invested despite being a full time professional. I want to challenge this, can someone guide me how to take it legally which doesn't involve cost.
I won't pay a single penny and any more time of mine on this useless certification which has no ethics.
Response from ACAMS· Apr 25, 2024
Dear Kaiful,
We thank you for your feedback. ACAMS is committed to the highest standards of academic quality and integrity.
To uphold our standards and commitment to quality and integrity, our exam security process is crucial. Organizations and individuals around the world rely on the reliability of this process.
Our team will communicate with you directly on your matter.
Sincerely,
Team ACAMS
ML
Maksims L.
Posted
ACAMS Unethical business practice (Continuation)
This is my continuation of the story for the people who still consider whether it is worth applying for the membership and courses at this institution.
As soon as I submitted negative review on TrustPilot the representative contacted me via email through which initial discussion regarding the issue started.
The answer has been general (i.e., forwarded my issue) and after couple of days, on 13/02/2024, i receive, first, confirmation that i have been registered for re-take exam, then i receive second email with info that my case has been closed and only after that i receive again general message from representative (Paola S.) stating that:
- They assure me that their study materials cover and prepare for the Exam;
- They conduct regular quality checks of exams;
- Training materials provide the knowledge needed to prepare for the examination;
- In order to maintain the integrity of their exams and exam security, they cannot share copies of the exam.
And e-mail also stated that they also registered me for a re-take exam.
So my concerns haven't been taken into the account properly.
As a result i asked additional questions, such as:
- Why my case was closed without confirmation with me?
- I provided some evidence (screenshots from materials) confirming my statement that Study Guide has mistakes and misleading information; Also mentioned, as evidence, some examples from the provided Handbook (which states that Study Guide is main reference material and content source for preparing for the rigors of the examination) where there are examination themes/questions not covered in study guides and asking to specify pages to that questions if they assure that their study materials cover and prepare for the exam.
- Also asked whether they have some certification accreditation by third party or authority that would prove compliance with best practices and standards (at least ISO standards).
- And also again asked to get detailed information on the exam because every person willing to start the course agreed on Non-Disclosure obligation, so there should not be the problem.
- And also asked where are the guarantees that after accepting the re-take there will not be such issues again?
I am still waiting for the answer since 13/02/2024 and have been sending kind reminders several times, still no answer.
I also tried to call today on 21/02/2024 to their branch in Paris during their working time and i received answer from answerphone that the "The offices are closed and please try to call normal working time from Monday to Friday from 9 AM till 5 PM.".
All facts (ignoring the claims, closed offices, no-refund policy, non-compliance between their statements and study materials, possible absence of any kind of accreditation (like CPD or ISO) of their courses by third parties or respective authorities) indicates, from my point of view, unfair, deceptive, fraudulent and unethical business practice.
I also wrote about that kind of negative business practice to one of the COO, hope that this will help.
Considering to write report/claim to respective Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Will be updating on the results.
NG
NG
Posted
Their Support ignored 5 of my…
Their Support ignored 5 of my consecutive support requests.
I paid over 3500 USD in fees for a conference, membership, recertification, and a live workshop after the conference.
Having paid so much money, I am still not able to watch Recorded Webinars from their library - it keeps asking me to pay 345 USD for a 1-year membership, which I paid 2 months ago.
Make no mistake - they are deliberetly ignoring my support tickets and close them immediately after opening without providing ANY reply.
Today I will send the 6th support request in a row hoping for them to respond and solve the issue, so I can study.
Response from ACAMS· Nov 22, 2023
Dear NG, We are sorry to hear about your recent experience. We would be happy to discuss your specific concerns with you and request your contact details for us to do so. Thank you, Team ACAMS
SR
sangeetha R.
Posted
ACAMS exams questions
Hi There , I took up ACAMS exams after getting training from an institute instructor and he said he prepares questions his input is taken into consideration when preparing exams questions.. Just to be clear I appeared for exams with the material provided by institutions and also studied from ACAMS online registration portal after submitting fees unfortunately the questionnaire that appeared in exams was so u relevant to what I studied from the materials and ACAMS online platform .. they were all advanced level questions when I was appearing for initial basic start of ACAMS .. if they make it this difficult then no one will have the courage to retake the ACAMS exams ever .. we know and have understood how ACAMS works by studying materials and nothing comes in your exams what you actually prepared for .. very sad but true .. and I can't afford to pay again Somuch to re apply same fees for retaking the exams .. please advise if there has been a change in anything .. I request ACAMS to please advise and consider my requests and recheck the questions that was provided to me on my exam day
Response from ACAMS· Aug 14, 2023
We are sorry to hear about your recent experience. We follow global guidelines and best practices when developing our certifications and exams, and this is applied across all countries and jurisdictions we have a presence in. We would be happy to discuss your specific concerns with you and request your contact details for us to do so. Thank you, Team ACAMS.
DB
D B.
Posted
Money making (S)CAM
The clue is in the name, just get the S to the start. You need to pay hundreds of £s to keep your certification "valid" - imagine losing your degree if you didn't pay a few hundred every year. The training materials are nice, mostly your basic stuff that would be covered by any bank, but the exam is awful. Poorly worded questions designed to trip you up and bad grammar. The questions are also not those covered in any practice simulations. Also had one about red flags where all the answers were red flags and I had to choose two (7+ years experience). Its a joke but nobody will say it, I passed it, not paying for renewal though. Just a tick box on the CV.
Response from ACAMS· Aug 29, 2023
Hello,
We are sorry to hear about your recent experience. We follow global guidelines and best practices when developing our certifications and exams, and this is applied across all countries and jurisdictions we have a presence in. We would be happy to discuss your specific concerns with you and request your contact details for us to do so. Alternatively, you can reach us at [email protected] so that we can assist you. Thank you, Team ACAMS.
ER
Erol
Posted
Acams different experiences
To start with:
I had a difficult and very stress full experience with Acams website and the test entity.
I recommend you to do read the policy and term and condition fully, so you know where you stand with exams, and all terms.
Initially I have ask for time to study, and the Acams only give me few extra month, turned out not sufficient time.
I did also have a bad experience during the Exam take, I got interrupted twice. I did FAILED the first attempt, the exam conditions were stress full not friendly.
However, Acams did call me and now they give me an extenuation for me to retake the exam. Thanks
Now I will study and maybe pass the exam, I least I get more time.
Anyway I am with studying with IAPP for Data Protection and they give you unlimited time study, 0 stress.
Response from ACAMS· Aug 8, 2023
We are sorry to hear about your recent experience. We follow global guidelines and best practices when developing our certifications and exams, and this is applied across all countries and jurisdictions we have a presence in. We would be happy to discuss your specific concerns with you and request your contact details for us to do so. Thank you, Team ACAMS.
CE
Cease
Posted
Exams
I took the entry level course from ACAMS and attempted to take the exam a few months ago. I was surprised that most of the questions covered were not on any of the study materials provided. When I contacted customer service they insisted that everything was provided and to try again. Second attempt had the same issue. Not only did they have material not covered, but they worded questions to trick/decieve the test taker instead of testing them on the knoweldge of the material. I ended up wasting over six months of my life on this but don't worry, ACAMS got their $2000 plus in fees, courses, exams retakes and will continue to hustle money out of people in the industry. Heed others warnings about this company and stay far away.
Response from ACAMS· Jul 24, 2023
Hello, we are sorry to hear you were unsuccessful in your attempts at CAMS. We understand that the exam can be challenging. Each question on the exam has been through a thorough development and review process, as well as statistical validation process, prior to it being selected as an item on the scored exam. The cut score is determined through a formal standard-setting procedure, and once established, it is applied uniformly to every person who takes that particular test form. You have the option to see how well you did in each individual section through your Pearson Vue Dashboard, by selecting the ‘View Score Reports’ tab which can help you review for future attempts. If you would like to speak to a member of our support team on strategies to prepare for the exam, we'd be happy to advise. Please do get in touch with us so that we can assist you.