FinCEN: Banks Lead in Reporting Mail-related Check Fraud

FinCEN released a Financial Trend Analysis on mail theft-related check fraud incidents based on Bank Secrecy Act data filed in the six months following FinCEN’s issuance of its 2023 alert on this same topic.

During the review period:

• FinCEN received 15,417 BSA reports from 841 financial institutions
• more than $688 million in suspicious activity was reported
• the average amount was $44,774 per reported incident
• banks filed 13,618 (88%) of the reports, while securities firms filed 885 and credit unions filed 882
• small and midsized banks accounted for the majority of the reports from banks.

FinCEN identified three primary outcomes after checks were stolen from the U.S. Mail:

• 44% were altered and then deposited
• 26% were used as templates to create counterfeit checks
• 20% were fraudulently signed and deposited

CBA stands ready to help your bank mitigate fraud with the upcoming program “Fraud Guard Prevention Tactics - Hear from the Experts on October 9^th.” Learn more and register.