Regulatory Alerts2012-03-30 | FinCEN Advisory – FIN-2012-A005Added
Tax Refund Fraud and Related Identity Theft Advisory
FinCEN provides financial institutions with specific red flags to identify tax refund fraud and related identity theft, including patterns such as multiple direct deposits to a single account, suspicious account openings for vulnerable individuals, and high volumes of third-party check processing. The advisory instructs institutions to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) when they know, suspect, or have reason to suspect transactions involve illegal activity or lack a lawful purpose, requiring the use of the term 'tax refund fraud' in the SAR narrative.