Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN")
Director Kenneth A. Blanco urged financial institutions to help prevent
the theft and abuse of personally identifiable information
("PII") by fraudsters, while making it clear that
FinCEN's appetite for financial data to fight money laundering
and terrorist financing continues unabated.
In a speech before the Federal Identity Forum and Exposition,
Mr. Blanco warned that PII is one of the "key enablers"
furthering a significant amount of fraud and cybercrime. According
to Mr. Blanco, PII is used throughout the financial system to
verify and authenticate users, which is what makes it such an
attractive target. Additionally, he noted, FinCEN found that
fraudsters are often able to gain access to PII by exploiting
weaknesses in financial institutions. Instances of fraud that
FinCEN has observed include fraudsters: