InfoBytes Blog
FinCEN Director warns of account takeovers via fintech data aggregators
On September 24, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Kenneth Blanco spoke at the Federal Identity (FedID) Forum and Exposition, discussing the role of FinCEN in combatting fraud and cybercrime and highlighting concerns regarding identity crimes. Blanco noted that FinCEN sees approximately 5,000 account takeover reports each month, a crime that “involves the targeting of financial institution customer accounts to gain unauthorized access to funds.” Moreover, FinCEN sees a high amount of fraud through account takeovers via fintech platforms, where cybercriminals use fintech data aggregators to facilitate account takeovers and fraudulent wires. Blanco stated that cybercriminals create fraudulent accounts and are able to “exploit the platforms’ integration with various financial services to initiate seemingly legitimate financial activity while creating a degree of separation from traditional fraud detection efforts.”
Additionally, Blanco discussed how cybercriminals use business email compromise (BEC) fraud schemes to target financial institutions and relayed FinCEN’s efforts to combat these schemes. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in July, FinCEN issued an updated advisory, describing general trends in BEC schemes, information concerning the targeting of non-business entities, and risks associated with the targeting of vulnerable business processes. Blanco also discussed (i) FinCEN’s final rule titled the “Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions,” (the CDD Rule) (prior coverage by InfoBytes here); and (ii) FinCEN’s December 2018 joint statement with federal banking agencies encouraging innovative approaches to combatting money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit financial threats when safeguarding the financial system (previously covered by InfoBytes here).