FinCEN Urges Banks to Track Early Funding Signals in Crypto Scams

Digital asset investment scams often begin with fake romantic, social or business relationships, followed by fabricated returns designed to persuade victims to send increasingly large sums into cryptocurrency investments. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, says banks may hold an early-warning advantage over crypto platforms: they can see customers drain deposits, liquidate investments and retirement accounts, or seek new credit before money reaches an exchange or unfamiliar beneficiary. Connecting those signals could help stop authorized transfers made under manipulation.

FinCEN on Sept. 3, 2026 released an analysis of 33,904 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed from Sept. 8, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2025, covering about $12.7 billion in suspected digital asset investment scam activity. Depository institutions reported roughly $6.4 billion of the total. In one case, a customer withdrew nearly $150,000 from a retirement account, opened a home-equity line, took out a personal loan and refinanced a mortgage. FinCEN urged financial institutions to combine such upstream behavior with payment data so they can question transfers, warn customers and attempt recalls before funds disappear.