WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Financial Trend Analysis (FTA) on mail theft-related check fraud incidents based on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) 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 on mail theft-related check fraud, amounting to more than $688 million in reported suspicious activity.
“Financial institutions responded to FinCEN’s alert on mail theft-related check fraud by providing BSA filings that are critical to curtailing this egregious fraud that is affecting communities across the United States,” said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki. “FinCEN values its ongoing collaboration with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) to raise awareness of this criminal activity impacting innocent Americans across the country.”
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service welcomes FinCEN’s latest FTA and continuing collaboration with FinCEN to identify the perpetrators of these crimes,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary R. Barksdale. “The FTA demonstrates the severity of mail theft-related check fraud and why fraud is a high priority, while also highlighting the important role that financial institutions play in reporting information pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act to assist in bringing fraudsters to justice. Suspicious Activity Reports are a valuable tool utilized by Postal Inspectors for not only targeting criminal networks and their illegally derived assets, but they also aid in the identification of victims. Postal Inspectors are committed to helping financial crime victims using all available resources and aim to ultimately make these victims whole through restitution.”
In its analysis of BSA reports for the FTA, FinCEN identified three primary outcomes after checks were stolen from the U.S. Mail: (a) 44 percent were altered and then deposited; (b) 26 percent were used as templates to create counterfeit checks; and (c) 20 percent were fraudulently signed and deposited. Check manipulation methodologies ranged in sophistication, and many perpetrators tried to avoid interaction with bank personnel. FinCEN also found that banks filed 88 percent of all mail theft-related check fraud reports. Additionally, analysis revealed that financial institutions reported transactional activity or BSA filing subjects linked to every U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. While every state was affected, populous states with large urban areas had more reported incidents.
With this analysis, FinCEN continues its focus on fraud, which it has highlighted as one of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism National Priorities. Mail theft-related check fraud losses can affect personal savings, checking accounts, business accounts, and retirement savings, as well as negatively impact financial institutions who typically cover the check fraud losses. In addition to filing a Suspicious Activity Report, as applicable, when suspecting mail theft-related check fraud, financial institutions should refer their customers who may be victims to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455 or https://www.uspis.gov/report.