The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently issued a Financial Trend Analysis (“Analysis”) focusing on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) data linked to Elder Financial Exploitation (“EFE”) involving scams or theft perpetrated against older adults.

The Analysis is a follow up to FinCEN’s June 2022 EFE Advisory (“2022 Advisory”). The Analysis reviews BSA reports filed between June 15, 2022 and June 15, 2023 that either used the key term referenced in the 2022 Advisory (“EFE FIN-2022-A002”) or checked “Elder Financial Exploitation” as a suspicious activity type.  In its 2022 Advisory, FinCEN warned financial institutions (“FIs”) about the rising trend of EFE, which FinCEN defines as “the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets, and is often perpetrated either through theft or scams.” The 2022 Advisory identified 12 “behavioral” and 12 “financial” red flags to help FIs detect, prevent, and report suspicious activity connected to EFE. Additionally, FinCEN recommended EFE victims file incident reports to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the Federal Trade Commission. Consistent with a risk-based approach to BSA compliance, FinCEN encouraged FIs to perform additional due diligence where appropriate.

Continue Reading  FinCEN Issues Analysis of Increasing Elder Financial Exploitation

A group of five Democratic Senators have sent a letter to the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, and NCUA asking them to take several steps to protect consumers from scams when using Zelle to transfer money.

The Senators ask the four agencies “to closely review and examine the customer reimbursement and anti-money laundering (AML) practices of depository institutions that participate in the Zelle network.” They also ask the Federal Reserve and OCC “to examine Early Warning Services, Inc. (EWS), which operates the Zelle network, on an ongoing basis and for the four agencies “to coordinate their supervisory approach with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”  The Senators note that the agencies have authority to supervise the banks that own and operate Zelle and the participating depository institutions for compliance “with key consumer protection and AML laws, including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).”

Continue Reading  Democratic Senators Send Letter to Federal Banking Agencies Raising Concerns About Fraudulent Transactions