FinCEN Highlights Ways Financial Institutions Can Combat Relationship Investment Scams

Financial institutions should watch for suspicious activity that may indicate relationship investment scams and should use specific Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing instructions and key terms to help law enforcement detect these scams, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said in a Wednesday (Feb. 26) press release.

“SAR filings, along with effective [Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)] compliance, are crucial to helping law enforcement detect, investigate and prosecute cases involving relationship investment scams,” the release said.

FinCEN issued these reminders in support of a multiagency national awareness campaign called #DatingOrDefrauding that aims to combat relationship investment scams, according to the release.

The agency also highlighted some previously published resources that can help stakeholders identify and report this sort of illicit activity. These include its Alert on Prevalent Virtual Currency Investment Scam Commonly Referred to as “Pig Butchering” by Perpetrators; its Advisory on Elder Financial Exploitation; its Financial Trend Analysis: Elder Financial Exploitation: Threat Pattern and Trend Information, June 2022 to June 2023; and its Financial Trend Analysis: Mail Theft-Related Check Fraud: Threat Pattern and Trend Information, February to August 2023.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said in a Feb. 10 press release that it launched the #DatingOrDefrauding campaign in coordination with multiple federal, state and nonprofit organizations.

The campaign is designed to educate consumers about relationship investment scams in which perpetrators contact possible victims through dating apps, social media platforms, messaging apps or “wrong number” text messages; establish relationships and build trust; offer to help victims earn extra money by trading cryptocurrency, precious metals or foreign currency; and then direct them to fraudulent trading platforms, according to the release.

“We ask you to be alert, and to help stop scams by warning your friends and family,” Melanie Devoe, director of the CFTC’s Office of Customer Education and Outreach, said in the release.

The FBI said in a Feb. 12 press release that it cautions individuals against engaging in online relationships with individuals they have not met in person.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) registered 19,000 complaints related to confidence and romance scams in 2022, amounting to reported losses totaling at least $739 million.