FinCEN Issues Report on Ransomware Trends in BSA Data

On Oct. 15, FinCEN issued a financial trend analysis on ransomware trends in Bank Secrecy Act reporting filed between January 2021 and June 2021.

There was $590 million in suspicious activity related to ransomware in the first six months of 2021, exceeding the entire amount in 2020, when $416 million was reported.

The average amount of reported ransomware transactions per month in 2021 was $102.3 million, according to the report. If the current trend continues, suspicious activity reports filed in 2021 “are projected to have a higher ransomware-related transaction value than SARs filed in the previous 10 years combined,” according to the report.

This report, issued pursuant to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, focuses on pattern and trend information pertaining to ransomware, in line with FinCEN’s issuance of government-wide priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policy.

Report: Ransomware Trends in Bank Secrecy Act Data Between January 2021 and June 2021