FinCEN analysis: Most common identity-related suspicious activities

Fraud victim

Fraud remains the leading form of identity-related suspicious activity cited in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reports by a large margin, while technologies enable greater overall risks around exploitation, according to new research from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

FinCEN’s latest “Financial Trend Analysis,” published Tuesday, reviews data from BSA reports filed in calendar year 2021. The agency identified at least 14 typologies that bad actors use to exploit the validation, verification, and authentication processes at financial institutions.

Of the approximately 1.6 million identity-related BSA reports FinCEN analyzed, general fraud was the most frequently reported suspicious activity at 1.2 million instances. Behind it was false records (423,000 reports), followed by identity theft (222,000), third-party money laundering (154,000), and circumventing standard processes (110,000).

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