FinCEN’s stats on elder financial abuse

Last month, FinCEN released a strategic analysis of BSA filings regarding elder financial exploitation and it revealed some pretty concerning trends.

In the six-ish years between October 2013 and August 2019, FinCEN tracked a 20% increase in the number of filings reporting elder abuse and a 30% increase in the amount of money involved in the reported activities. This increase in filings could mean a significant uptick in elder financial exploitation activity, but it could also meant that financial institutions are watching more closely and reporting more often than they used to.

SAR narratives of a statistically representative sample indicated that 77% of reported elder financial exploitation scams involved money transfer scams conducted through MSBs. 21% involved theft perpetrated through depository institutions.

MSB Scams

The MSB scams most often involved lottery, person-in-need or romance scams and resulted in the elders sending money to someone they did not know. FinCEN provided brief descriptions of these scams:

 

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