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| FinCEN Issues Analysis on Elder Financial Exploitation |
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The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Financial Trend Analysis focusing on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data linked to Elder Financial Exploitation (EFE) – the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets.
FinCEN examined BSA reports filed between June 15, 2022, and June 15, 2023, that either used the key term referenced in FinCEN’s June 2022 EFE advisory or checked “Elder Financial Exploitation” as a suspicious activity type.
This amounted to 155,415 filings over this period, indicating roughly $27 billion in EFE-related suspicious activity.
FinCEN has continued to receive EFE BSA reports, averaging 15,993 per month between June 15, 2023, and January 15, 2024.
EFE typically consists of:
• Elder scams, identified in approximately 80% of the EFE BSA reports that FinCEN analyzed, involve the transfer of money to a stranger or imposter for a promised benefit that the older adult does not receive. FinCEN’s analysis revealed that most elder scam-related BSA filings referenced “account takeover” by a perpetrator unknown to the victim; or
• Elder theft, identified in approximately 20% of the reports, an otherwise trusted person steals an older adult’s assets, funds, or income. Analysis found adult children were the most frequent elder theft-related perpetrators.
FinCEN also found illicit actors mostly relied on unsophisticated means to steal funds that minimize direct contact with financial institution employees.
Copyright 2024. America's Credit Unions. (link) |
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