Great Question: SAR Subject with Elder Exploitation

Question:

We are working on a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) for a member we believe is being victimized through an elder financial exploitation scam. As we fill out the SAR, there is a checkbox related to “Elder Abuse.” I don’t think we should check that box because the subject (our member) is not the perpetrator of the abuse, but the victim.

Do you have any guidance to help us understand how to complete a SAR in this type of situation?

Answer:

The FinCEN SAR filing instructions state the suspicious activity category Items 29 through 38 should be used to “record the type(s) of suspicious activity being reported. Check all boxes that apply to the suspicious activity.”

The “subject” of the SAR will not be your member – as you point out, they are the victim. This FinCEN guidance explains where information about the victim should be listed on the SAR:

The narrative should also include an explanation of why the institution knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the activity is suspicious.  It is important to note that the potential victim of elder financial exploitation should not be reported as the subject of the SAR.  Rather, all available information on the victim should be included in the narrative portion of the SAR.   

The subject of a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) may be either known or unknown. In many cases involving elder financial exploitation, the subject is unknown. The same approach applies when reporting other SAR-qualifying transactions where a member is the victim, but the perpetrator cannot be identified, such as check fraud, credit card fraud, or identity theft. It is important to recognize that significantly more credit card and check fraud would be reported on SARs if the responsible parties were known.

Because they typically are not, the reporting threshold increases to $25,000, unless money laundering or structuring is suspected.

You should also include the code word “EFE FIN-2022-A002” in the SAR narrative when Elder Financial Exploitation is suspected.