FinCEN Program Aids in Recovery of Over $1.1B in Losses

FinCEN recently announced it has issued a Fact Sheet on its Rapid Response Program (RRP)—a collaborative partnership that leverages FinCEN’s relationships with law enforcement, U.S. financial institutions, and foreign financial intelligence units to help victims and their financial institutions recover funds stolen as the result of certain cyber-enabled financial crimes schemes, including business e-mail compromise. Through the collaborative efforts of the RRP, FinCEN has successfully assisted in the recovery of over $1.1 billion.

The fact sheet provides information on the program and emphasizes that victims of cyber-enabled crimes or victims’ financial institutions must file a complaint with law enforcement (not directly with FinCEN) to initiate the RRP process. It also includes the types of information that should be provided to law enforcement at the time of filing a complaint.

While FinCEN does not ensure the recovery of stolen funds, the RRP has had greater success in recovering funds when victims or financial institutions report fraudulently induced wire transfers to law enforcement within 72 hours of the transaction.

Through this program, a victim of a cyber-enabled crime, or the victim’s financial institution, must file a complaint with law enforcement to initiate the RRP. The complaint can be filed with the FBI’s Cyber- and Internet related Crime Complaint Center (IC3) or a local United States Secret Service field office.

Source: FinCEN