Latest news with #FinCEN
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FinCEN Warns Bitcoin ATM Fraud Is Surging: 'Criminals Are Relentless In Their Efforts To Steal Money'
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. The use of convertible virtual currency kiosks for fraud and other illicit purposes has 'skyrocketed' over the past year in the U.S., according to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. FinCEN said in a notice to financial institutions on Monday that the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 11,000 complaints involving these machines, with victim losses estimated at around $247 million in 2024. The figures represent a 99% and 31% increase, respectively. Don't Miss: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies. FinCEN highlighted that these scams impacted older people the most, citing data from the Federal Trade Commission. The data showed that $2 out of every $3 reported lost to CVC kiosk fraud were lost by an older adult. Victims are typically contacted through unsolicited phone calls by scammers posing as bank reps calling about an unauthorized transaction or government agents demanding taxes, FinCen said. Beyond scams, FinCEN said these machines have been used to launder suspected drug proceeds. The government office cited a Drug Enforcement Administration report that criminal groups like 'Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación' were using the machines. Trending: Accredited Investors: Grab Pre-IPO Shares of the AI Company Powering Hasbro, Sephora & MGM— 'Criminals are relentless in their efforts to steal money from victims, and they've learned to exploit innovative technologies like CVC kiosks,' FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement. 'The United States is committed to safeguarding the digital asset ecosystem for legitimate businesses and consumers, and financial institutions are a critical partner in that effort. This notice supports [sic] Treasury's continuing mission to counter fraud and other illicit activities.' CVC kiosks, more widely known as Bitcoin ATMs, allow users to exchange fiat for cryptocurrencies. While they can offer a convenient way for users to access cryptocurrencies, scammers and other illicit users like drug cartels are exploiting them for the irreversibility and speed they provide, FinCEN said. FinCEN urged financial institutions to take more proactive measures to identify and report suspicious activity involving these Bitcoin ATMs, highlighting 'substantial rates of non-compliance' with anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism rules among is not the only entity to raise concerns over Bitcoin ATM fraud in recent months. In February, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act of 2025, which would require operators to register with the Treasury Department, limit user transactions and offer fraud warnings. In April, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued a consumer alert on cryptocurrency ATM scams. Spokane, Washington, outlawed the machines altogether in June. Beyond the U.S., Australia in June placed a AU$5,000 ($3,300) limit on Bitcoin ATM transactions. New Zealand in July banned cryptocurrency ATMs while imposing a NZ$5,000 ($3,000) limit on all international transactions. Read Next: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Image: Shutterstock This article FinCEN Warns Bitcoin ATM Fraud Is Surging: 'Criminals Are Relentless In Their Efforts To Steal Money' originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FinCEN Warns Financial Institutions of Crypto Kiosk Scams
The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a notice urging financial institutions to watch for suspicious activity tied to crypto kiosks.d These convertible virtual currency (CVC) kiosks, which allow users to access and transact in cryptocurrency, offer consumers a simple way to buy crypto, the money laundering watchdog said. Yet, FinCEN said these are being exploited by criminals to engage in fraud, cybercrime and drug trafficking. The agency pointed to a growing number of scams involving payments made through these machines, including fake tech support, customer service impersonation and bank-related scams, some of which disproportionately affect older adults. 'Criminals are relentless in their efforts to steal money from victims, and they've learned to exploit innovative technologies like CVC kiosks,' said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki in a statement. The notice points out that risks are exacerbated by institutions failing to meet their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN has for years been tracking illicit uses involving crypto. Last year, it released a report saying bitcoin became a popular means of payment related to smuggling and exploitation of people. It has also analyzed crypto transactions potentially tied to Hamas. Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
05-08-2025
- Business
- Forbes
AI-Driven AML Compliance For RIAs Under New FinCEN Rule
Madhu Nadig is co-founder & CTO of Flagright - building the AML compliance infrastructure for Financial Institutions. Registered investment advisors (RIAs) in the U.S. face a new anti-money laundering (AML) reality. Starting January 1, 2026 (now potentially delayed until January 1, 2028), RIAs will be required to comply with FinCEN's final AML rule, which mandates robust programs for transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, customer due diligence (CDD) and more. For many advisory firms, which often have lean operations with limited compliance staff, meeting these requirements poses significant staffing and cost pressures. The good news is that AI-powered regtech platforms and automation offer a path to leaner compliance. Instead of building large teams and manually policing transactions, RIAs can leverage smart technology to satisfy regulators efficiently. FinCEN's New AML Rule: Additional Compliance Burdens For RIAs FinCEN's final rule brings RIAs squarely under Bank Secrecy Act requirements for the first time. Nearly all SEC-registered investment advisors must implement written AML/CFT compliance programs by the deadline. These programs must cover core elements long required of banks and broker-dealers: • Internal Policies And Controls: Written procedures to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorist financing • AML Compliance Officer: A designated individual responsible for overseeing the program • Staff Training: Ongoing training on AML duties for relevant personnel • Independent Testing: Periodic audits of the program's effectiveness by an independent party • Customer Due Diligence: Risk-based procedures to verify clients' identities and understand account purposes • Suspicious Activity Reporting: Processes to identify and file suspicious activity reports (SARs) with FinCEN for qualifying suspicious transactions RIAs will now be treated as "financial institutions" under the law, with obligations to screen clients, monitor transactions and report red flags, just like banks. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will examine RIA compliance with these rules, and non-compliance isn't an option: Penalties can reach up to $25,000 for willfully failing to implement required AML programs. This mandate closes a regulatory gap and significantly raises the stakes for advisory firms. It's truly a compliance game-changer, especially considering the size of the industry now under AML obligations. There are over 15,000 RIAs in the U.S. managing about $125 trillion in client assets, a sector previously outside the scope of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), now coming under intense oversight. Staffing And Cost Challenges In Building An AML Program Building an AML/CFT program from scratch is resource-intensive. RIAs now face the challenge of assembling people and tools to fulfill FinCEN's requirements: • Limited Staff And Expertise: Many RIAs have minimal in-house compliance personnel. Unlike large banks, an advisory firm can't easily redeploy dozens of analysts to AML duties. Hiring new AML specialists or consultants is expensive and time-consuming. Industry groups warned that smaller advisors (e.g., under 20 employees) would struggle to absorb these compliance burdens, even urging FinCEN to exempt the smallest advisors due to the outsized impact. • New Ongoing Workflows: The AML rule imposes continuous processes that firms must maintain. This includes monitoring transactions daily for suspicious patterns, conducting thorough CDD at client onboarding, periodically screening clients against sanctions/watchlists, investigating any alerts or unusual activities and drafting and filing SARs when required. Each task can be labor-intensive if done manually and will require clear policies, procedures and allocation of responsibilities. • Costly Manual Processes: Compliance labor is a major cost driver. Salaries for experienced AML compliance officers or analysts can easily exceed six figures. Beyond salaries, there are costs in training staff, managing false-positive alerts and ensuring quality control. • Independent Audits And Technology Investments: The rule requires independent testing of the AML program's effectiveness. Many RIAs will need to outsource this to external auditors or compliance consultants (introducing another new cost). These challenges make it clear that a 'business as usual' approach won't work. RIAs must find ways to meet the regulatory requirements without simply throwing bodies and money at the problem. This is where planning and technology come in. Preparing For Compliance: Actionable Steps For RIAs With the deadline looming, whether in 2026 or 2028, what should investment advisors be doing now? Below are key steps to prepare for FinCEN's AML rule, drawn from regulatory guidance and industry best practices: 1. Conducting A Risk Assessment And Gap Analysis: Start by evaluating your current compliance framework against the new rule's requirements. 2. Developing Or Updating Your AML Program: Using the gap analysis results, update your written policies and procedures to align with FinCEN's rule. This includes drafting an AML compliance manual if you don't have one, or revising your existing one to cover the five pillars (internal controls, AML officer, training, testing, CDD) in depth. 3. Implementing Supporting Technology And Automation: Given the volume of monitoring and reporting required, leverage technology tools to streamline processes wherever possible. For instance, use an AML software platform for transaction monitoring that can automatically flag unusual patterns, and a sanctions screening tool to check clients against watchlists. 4. Training Your Team And Testing The Program: Even the best policy document won't work if your employees don't know how to execute it. Plan comprehensive training for all relevant staff on the new AML procedures and their responsibilities—not just once, but on an ongoing basis. 5. Planning For Day-One Compliance And Ongoing Improvement: By Q4, aim to have all pieces in place, policies approved, systems implemented, staff trained and initial testing done so that by January 1, 2026 (or 2028), you are fully operational with AML monitoring and reporting. From that point, compliance will be an ongoing effort. Each of these steps will help ensure you're not scrambling at the last minute. Importantly, they also illustrate that you don't necessarily need a large staff to comply; rather, you need a smart plan and the right tools. By starting early and following a structured roadmap, even smaller advisors can meet the new AML obligations without being overwhelmed. Conclusion As you plan your program, remember that regulators focus on outcomes—timely SAR filings, effective monitoring and thorough due diligence—not whether those results were delivered by a team of 10 or by two people using a smart platform. An AI-powered AML solution can be a force multiplier for a small firm's compliance officer, handling routine checks and flagging the issues that truly need human judgment. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Forbes
31-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Remote Hiring 2.0: Scaling Your Talent Pipeline With AI And Keeping It Authentic
Ruben Vardanyan is founder & CEO of Joomag, helping companies craft immersive, measurable digital content experiences. Remote roles still command roughly one-quarter of U.S. professional job postings, six times the pre-pandemic share. To keep pace, 73% of talent-acquisition leaders say artificial intelligence will reshape hiring within the next two years. That same technology, however, now powers sophisticated fraud. In a March 2025 survey, 76% of hiring managers said AI makes it harder to confirm that applicants are authentic. Financial regulators echo the warning: A 2024 FinCEN alert details deepfake identity documents designed to slip past customer-verification checks. I experienced the collision firsthand when a supposedly L.A.-based marketing candidate froze during a quick webcam flip. The image was an AI avatar; the real person was thousands of miles away. That moment cemented a new reality: Leaders must harness AI to speed hiring while simultaneously verifying authenticity across all functions, from marketing to finance to customer success. The Double-Edged Sword Of AI In Hiring AI accelerates sourcing, CV screening and scheduling. LinkedIn's new 'hiring assistant' can draft job posts, find candidates and personalize outreach, yet those same generative tools let applicants auto-tailor CVs and consult ChatGPT in real time. Without safeguards, companies risk onboarding sales reps who can't pitch, analysts who can't reconcile a spreadsheet and designers who have never opened Figma. The fix is not to retreat from AI, but to engineer trust into the process. A Three-Layer Framework For Fraud-Resistant, High-Velocity Hiring Begin with automated digital-footprint scoring. Software can scan a candidate's LinkedIn history for multi-month activity, consistent job timelines and meaningful engagement. At my company, where a single posting can draw 5,000 applicants, this filter alone removes roughly 40% of submissions in under 30 minutes. If a marketing lead shows no public content or a finance applicant's entire network appeared only last week, route that person to heightened ID checks. Next, seek cross-platform corroboration by matching CV claims against GitHub commits, conference presentations or published slide decks. Authentic public behavior is still hard to fake at scale, so these signals eliminate most synthetic profiles before any human conversation begins. The second layer relies on AI to test both competence and authenticity in real time. An adaptive chatbot generates tailored questions, increases complexity when answers are strong and inserts surprise 'prove-you-are-live' tasks such as screen-sharing, writing a short SQL query or sketching a customer-journey map. Behind the scenes, the system tracks response latency and keystroke cadence; consistent pauses after every prompt often reveal someone consulting ChatGPT on a second monitor. Since deploying this stage, our talent team reduced average time-to-shortlist from nine days to 48 hours and cut spend by 31%. Role-specific exercises keep the assessment relevant: A sales candidate records a 90-second cold pitch, a designer edits a Figma file live and a finance analyst reconciles a mini P&L on screen. The AI flags only those who clear both skill and integrity bars for the next round. With identity and baseline competence verified, the last step is a panel conversation focused on judgment, culture fit and long-term potential. Interviewers can now dig deep: 'Describe a time you missed a deadline and how you reset stakeholder expectations,' or 'Our road map just shrank by 20%; which projects would you drop first, and why?' Because few original applicants reach this point, hiring managers can reserve their energy for the nuanced, high-value conversations that determine true fit. Each finalist also arrives with an AI-generated dossier, concise notes that distill their responses, aptitude metrics and integrity signals, so managers start informed and move faster. The net result: We now fill roles in under 30 days, compared with the months-long cycles we endured before the framework went live. Implementation Best Practices • Track everything. Track false-positive and false-negative fraud flags, time-to-offer, 90-day retention and recruiter hours saved. • Be transparent. Tell applicants that AI integrity tools are in play. Honest candidates appreciate the clarity, while fraudsters often self-select out. • Red-team your funnel. Every quarter, ask internal staff to 'cheat' with the latest AI tools and patch gaps the exercise reveals. • Audit for bias. Review rejection patterns by gender, age and geography; retrain models that over-penalize non-native accents or slower typists. • Demand vendor openness. Require documentation of bias testing and the right to inspect raw logs during investigations. The Leadership Takeaway Remote work unlocked global talent, and generative AI unlocked global imitation. Firms that verify first, automate smartly and humanize last gain durable advantages. Deepfake or AI-scripted fraud gets caught before it reaches payroll, protecting data, culture and brand. In an era where a convincing CV can be faked in 30 seconds and a realistic avatar in minutes, engineering trust as a measurable datapoint is the fastest route to hiring smarter across every function of the organization. Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Zawya
29-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Regional Regulatory Misunderstanding, YBUOJ Responds Proactively to BaFin Advisory
COLORADO, USA - Media OutReach Newswire - 29 July 2025 - The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (BaFin) recently issued a public advisory stating that crypto exchange YBUOJ was offering digital asset services to German investors without proper authorization—drawing significant market attention. However, the latest response of YBUOJ suggests the issue stems more from differences in regulatory interpretation and regional communication gaps than from any actual breach of compliance. According to publicly available information, YBUOJ is headquartered in the United States, where it holds a Money Services Business (MSB) license issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These credentials confirm that YBUOJ operates under recognized federal oversight and meets established international compliance standards. In response to the concerns of BaFin, YBUOJ promptly clarified that it is not registered in Germany and that all of its operations strictly follow U.S. regulatory requirements. This statement aligns with the nature of the notice of BaFin, which is categorized as a routine consumer advisory rather than an administrative sanction. Such scenarios are not uncommon in the crypto industry. Binance, for example, is generally well-regarded in Germany, yet it has faced serious warnings or service restrictions in countries like the UK, Canada, and Japan due to lacking local regulatory approval. These cases underscore that recognition of foreign compliance credentials varies widely across jurisdictions. The mention of YBUOJ in the advisory of BaFin highlights the broader challenges cross-border crypto platforms face in navigating differing national regulatory frameworks, where misunderstandings and communication gaps can easily arise. In light of the situation, YBUOJ has expressed its willingness to fully cooperate with German regulators, offering relevant documentation and compliance materials to clarify the facts and dispel any misconceptions. In addition, YBUOJ also indicated it may seek to obtain a local license in Germany in the future to better meet regional regulatory requirements. In conclusion, this incident appears to be a matter of regional regulatory misunderstanding, not substantive wrongdoing. The prompt, constructive response and solid compliance foundation of YBUOJ reflect its strategic commitment to global regulatory alignment—and offer a reference point for other industry participants in managing cross-jurisdictional compliance. Hashtag: #YBUOJ The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. YBUOJ Digital Trade Limited
