New FinCEN Advisory – Cybercrime Exploiting the COVID-19 Pandemic

On July 30, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its latest advisory on Cybercrime and Cyber-Enabled Crime Exploiting the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic (see link to the advisory). In this blog post, I highlight the importance of the advisory and the need for the applicable parties (financial institutions, title companies, closing agents, etc.) to be aware of the red-flag indicators stressed by the advisory.

                Cybercrime and fraud have been rampant in real estate transactions, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only provided further opportunity for cyber criminals to wreak havoc. This is being done via “malware and phishing schemes, extortion, business email compromise (BEC) fraud, and exploitation of remote applications, especially against financial and healthcare systems.” The advisory breaks down certain red-flag indicators relating to these fraud schemes. Here are the exact red-flags identified by the advisory:

Be sure to read the latest advisory to be aware of all these red-flag indicators and better equip you and your business to prevent fraud and cybercrime. If you want to discuss any of the above or have concerns with vulnerabilities against cybercrime and fraud, please do not hesitate to contact me.