A Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) report found that the number of ransomware-related suspicious activity reports (SARs) has grown rapidly in the period between January and June of 2021. The briefing came on the heels of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which required FinCEN to periodically publish threat patterns gathered from suspicious activity reports by financial institutions. FinCEN is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury charged with safeguarding the financial system from illicit use and combating money laundering.
In the first six months of 2021, the number of reported transactions was up 30% from those reported during the entirety of 2020. The total value of reported suspicious ransomware transactions during this period (USD 590 million) also was up 42% from that reported in the entire year of 2020 (USD 416 million).
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