FinCEN Analyzes "Threat Patterns and Trends" in Elder Financial Exploitation
"FinCEN has long recognized the threat that Elder Financial Exploitation poses and the need to protect the older adult population from financial abuse ... FinCEN’s analysis highlights the critical role of financial institutions in helping to identify, prevent, and report suspected Elder Financial Exploitation."
FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki
"FinCEN has long recognized the threat that Elder Financial Exploitation poses and the need to protect the older adult population from financial abuse ... FinCEN’s analysis highlights the critical role of financial institutions in helping to identify, prevent, and report suspected Elder Financial Exploitation."
FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki
FinCEN reported "threat patterns and trends" in elder financial exploitation ("EFE") derived from Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA") data reports filed between June 15, 2022 and June 15, 2023.
In the report, FinCEN examined data that referenced relevant key terms highlighted in its June 2022 EFE Advisory, or that explicitly included "Elder Financial Exploitation" as a suspicious activity type. Of the 155,415 filings that were identified, FinCEN said EFE-related suspicious activity (both actual and attempted transactions) cost roughly $27 billion. Among FinCEN's findings:
- banks filed 72% of all EFE-related BSA reports;
- financial institutions filed more elder scam-related reports (80%) than elder theft-related reports;
- "account takeover" represented the majority of elder scam-related reports;
- adult children are the most frequent elder theft-related perpetrators (40% of cases);
- perpetrators mostly rely on unsophisticated means (stolen passwords, spam emails or other methods to elicit replies containing sensitive information.)