HSI, ACAMS provide guidance on combating financial fraud, other crypto fraud
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in partnership with ACAMS today issued an alert outlining anti-money laundering red flags and compliance guidance related to so-called “pig slaughter,” a growing global fraud scheme that targets victims by earning their trust over in during the weeks or months before you request money for fraudulent investments in cryptoassets. The notice was issued as part of the CORNERSTONE project.
“Pig slaughter and other sophisticated crypto scams have defrauded victims of hundreds of millions of dollars by earning their trust via social media platforms, messaging apps, dating sites and other forms of digital communication – in fact, victim losses were estimated at $3.3 billion in 2022,” said Matthew Millhollin, Acting Assistant Director of HSI’s Countering Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) division. “Partnerships with crypto firms and other financial institutions are critical to identifying and preventing financial crime and other similar emerging cyber frauds.”
The perpetrators of wire fraud have often been trafficked by organized crime groups and forced to work in fraud centers in Asia under threat of violence, while targeting individuals in other regions of the world. To help financial institutions better identify and report activity related to fraudulent schemes, the alert outlines transactional and behavioral red flags, geographic risk considerations, recommended customer due diligence practices, and other guidance for AML compliance professionals.
“For decades, the CORNERSTONE initiative has helped protect American businesses and vulnerable individuals, and this alert is no different,” said Joby Carpenter, ACAMS Global Subject-Matter Expert in Cryptoassets, Illicit Finance, and Emerging Threats. “By outlining AML compliance practices for CORNERSTONE subscribers and our members worldwide, this initiative is yet another example of the power that the public and private sectors can exert when they work together.”
CORNERSTONE is a public-private partnership initiative launched in 2003 to identify and close systemic vulnerabilities in the private sector that can be used by criminals to generate, move and store illicit assets.
The initiative marks the second time HSI and ACAMS have collaborated in a public-private partnership to combat emerging financial crimes. In 2022, the organizations jointly issued the report Detect and report the illicit financial flows associated with organized theft groups (OTG) and organized retail crime (ORC) to support law enforcement investigators and compliance professionals.
CTOC’s Finance and Fraud Division leads programmatic oversight of HSI’s strategic planning, national policy implementation, and the development and execution of operational initiatives for various programmatic areas targeting transnational criminal organizations involved in money laundering, financial fraud, bulk cash smuggling, document fraud, benefit fraud, labor exploitation and related crimes enforced by HSI, as well as investigative resources related to asset forfeiture, seized property and equitable sharing.
In fiscal year 2022, the HSI set a new record for seized currency and assets of more than $5 billion, dealing a significant blow to the operations of transnational criminal organizations and criminals seeking to profit from illegal crimes. This increase of around $4 billion from the previous year was largely due to increased seizures of cryptocurrency used for criminal activity.
Read the full notice online and subscribe to the CORNERSTONE newsletter. Follow us on Twitter @HSI_HQ to learn more about HSI’s global mission and operations.
HSI is a directorate of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities across the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement. Learn more about HSI online.
About ACAMS®
ACAMS is a leading international membership organization dedicated to providing anti-financial crime (AFC) education opportunities, best practices and peer-to-peer networking to AFC professionals globally. With over 100,000 members across 180 jurisdictions, ACAMS is committed to ending financial crime by providing anti-money laundering/countering terrorist financing and sanctions, knowledge sharing, thought leadership, risk mitigation services, ESG initiatives and platforms for public -private dialogue. The association’s CAMS certification is the gold standard qualification for AFC professionals, while the CGSS and CCAS certifications are for sanctions experts and AFC practitioners working in the crypto space, respectively. ACAMS’ 60+ chapters globally further reinforce the association’s mission through training and networking initiatives. Visit acams.org for more information.
