FinCEN Alert on Fraud Schemes Abusing FinCEN’s Name, Insignia, and Authorities for Financial Gain (FIN-2024-Alert005)

See FinCEN, Insignia.
In 2021, Congress enacted the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to curb illicit finance. For more
information, see FinCEN, Beneficial Ownership Information webpage. On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al., No. 4:24-cv-00478 (E.D. Tex.), a federal district court in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction that: (1) enjoins the CTA, including enforcement of that statute and regulations implementing its BOI reporting requirements, and, specifically, (2) stays all deadlines to comply with the CTA’s reporting requirements. The Department of Justice, on behalf of Treasury, filed a Notice of Appeal on December 5, 2024. For more information on this case and the impact of this ongoing litigation, please see FinCEN’s website, available at: https://fincen.gov/boi.
See FinCEN, MSB Registrant Search. The MSB Registrant Search Page contains entities that have registered as MSBs
pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) implementing regulations at 31 CFR § 1022.380.
Government imposter scams are a type of fraud in which scammers impersonate Federal, state, or local government
agencies or personnel to perpetrate fraud. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), losses from government imposter scams increased by 63 percent in 2023 with over 14,000 victims reporting nearly $400 million dollars in losses in that timeframe. See FBI IC3, “2023 Internet Crime Report” (Dec. 12, 2023), p. 15. For additional information on government imposter scams see Federal Trade Commission (FTC), “How to Avoid a Government Impersonation Scam” (Nov. 2023). See also Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG), Prohibition Against Misuse of Treasury Names, Terms, Symbols, Stationery, Etc.
FinCEN has previously notified financial institutions and the public about scams exploiting its name. See, e.g.,
FinCEN, FinCEN Reminds the Public to be Wary of Fraudulent Correspondence and Phone Calls (“FinCEN Scam Reminder”). These schemes may constitute wire or mail fraud, conviction of which may result in a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
See 31 U.S.C. § 5312(a)(2); 31 CFR § 1010.100(t).
FIN-2024-Alert005 December 18, 2024
FinCEN Alert on Fraud Schemes Abusing
FinCEN’s Name, Insignia, and Authorities for Financial Gain The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing this alert to raise awareness of fraud schemes abusing FinCEN’s name, insignia,1 and authorities for financial gain. These FinCEN-specific fraud schemes include scams that exploit beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting;2 misuse FinCEN’s Money Services Business (MSB) Registration tool;3 or involve the impersonation of, or misrepresent affiliation with, FinCEN and its employees.4 These schemes are the latest evolution of scams impacting FinCEN and its stakeholders.5 FinCEN reminds financial institutions to be vigilant in identifying such schemes, which seek to solicit money or personal information from the public, and to report suspicious activity related to these schemes to FinCEN. FinCEN further encourages financial institutions6 to urge their customers to be equally vigilant in identifying and avoiding these and similar government imposter scams. Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Filing Request:
FinCEN requests that financial institutions reference this alert by including the key term “FIN-2024- FINCENSCAMS” in SAR field 2 (Filing Institution Note to FinCEN) and the narrative. Financial institutions should also select SAR field 34(z) (Fraud – Other) and include any other relevant terms, including “BOI Scam,” “MSB Scam,” and/or “FinCEN Imposter Scam” in the text box, as applicable.

FinCEN Alert on Fraud Schemes Abusing FinCEN’s Name, Insignia, and Authorities for Financial Gain (FIN-2024-Alert005)

Lineage: In force