FinCEN trend analysis on mail theft-related check fraud

FinCEN on Monday 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 on mail theft-related check fraud, amounting to more than $688 million in reported suspicious activity (the average amount reported was $44,774 per reported incident).

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

• 44 percent were altered and then deposited
• 26 percent were used as templates to create counterfeit checks
• 20 percent were fraudulently signed [indorsed] 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.

Mail theft-related check fraud losses can affect personal savings, checking accounts, business accounts, and retirement savings, as well as negatively impact financial institutions that typically cover the check fraud losses.