Fact 2026-10-08 #10 NumbersEnforcement

680,000+check-fraud suspicious activity reports recorded by FinCEN in 2022, nearly double 2021

FinCEN recorded over 350,000 check-fraud suspicious activity reports in 2021 and over 680,000 in 2022, nearly double, and in February 2023 called it a nationwide surge.

FinCEN's alert notes that mail theft-related check fraud was previously mostly confined to postal employees with facility access and is now widespread street-level theft. The Postal Inspection Service says it recovers more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders every year.

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Source: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), U.S. Department of the Treasury · United States Postal Inspection Service. Read more: check washing

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• Check washing: how it works

Sources

1. FinCEN Alert on Nationwide Surge in Mail Theft-Related Check Fraud Schemes Targeting the U.S. Mail. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), U.S. Department of the Treasury. Accessed 2026-09-14. Supports: The February 2023 alert date, the SAR statistics (over 350,000 in 2021, over 680,000 in 2022), the note that these schemes were previously mostly confined to postal employees with facility access, and the National AML/CFT Priorities framing.
2. Check Washing. United States Postal Inspection Service. Accessed 2026-09-14. Supports: The mechanism of check washing (chemical ink removal, counterfeit reproduction), the $1 billion-plus in counterfeit checks and money orders recovered annually, and USPIS's own prevention advice.