WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert today to raise awareness of fraud schemes abusing FinCEN’s name, insignia, and authorities for financial gain. These FinCEN-specific fraud schemes include scams that exploit beneficial ownership information reporting; misuse FinCEN’s Money Services Business Registration tool; or involve the impersonation of, or misrepresent affiliation with, FinCEN and its employees.
“We are very concerned about reports of scammers using FinCEN’s name to perpetrate fraud schemes against the public for financial gain,” said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. “We urge the public to be vigilant in identifying and avoiding these schemes and to be extremely cautious when dealing with unsolicited correspondence. FinCEN and its employees will never threaten a member of the public by email, call, or text, or demand immediate payment for any reason.”
The alert provides guidance to the public on how to identify and avoid these scams and provides typologies and red flag indicators to help financial institutions detect, prevent, and report potential suspicious activity to FinCEN. Combating fraud is one of FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism National Priorities.
The public is reminded that any solicitations from individuals or entities abusing FinCEN’s name, insignia, or authorities, or impersonating a FinCEN employee should be reported to Treasury’s Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission. Victims of cyber-enabled government imposter scams should file a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center and file a report with their nearest FBI field office. Anyone with knowledge of fraud schemes involving victims who are age 60 or older can call the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 or 833-372-8311.
Questions regarding the contents of this alert should be sent to the FinCEN Regulatory Support Section by submitting an inquiry at www.fincen.gov/contact.
The full alert is available online at FIN-2024-Alert005.
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