FinCEN counted 155,415 EFE related reports filed under the Bank Secrecy Act between 15 June 2022 and 15 June 2023, tied to more than $27 billion in reported suspicious activity (FinCEN trend analysis, April 2024). Federal agencies and state regulators cited that analysis in their statement of 4 December 2024, which sets out practices banks can use, from staff training to payment holds.
EFE is a fraud prevention problem too.
What does elder financial exploitation look like in an account?
Picture a customer aged 81, an illustrative case, whose account has taken the same pension credit every month for years. Over six weeks the pattern changes: a new online friend comes up in conversation at the branch, cash withdrawals reach the daily ATM maximum, two wires leave for an overseas payee and a deposit goes into a crypto kiosk.
That is the meaning of EFE that FinCEN's Advisory FIN-2022-A002 of 15 June 2022 describes. It defines EFE, one type of elder abuse, as "the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds, property, or assets" and counts an older adult as someone "60 years of age or older". Other rules draw other lines: FINRA's hold rule starts at 65, and UK guidance speaks of vulnerable customers, defined by their circumstances rather than by age.
Outside finance, EFE also names the external factor evaluation matrix of strategic planning, an unrelated term.
Theft by a trusted person or a scam by a stranger: what differs?
Table 1. The two forms of EFE and what each leaves in the account.
| Form | Who acts | How the money moves | What the account shows | What the firm can do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elder theft | A person the customer knows and trusts: a relative, caregiver, friend or agent | Cash withdrawals, card use, transfers or checks by that person, often through a power of attorney or joint access | A new signatory or changed power of attorney, card use the customer cannot explain, a helper doing the talking | Talk to the customer, check the authority, report |
| Elder scam | A stranger or impostor, often abroad | The customer's own urgent, repeated payments by wire, gift card, cash or crypto | New payees, memo lines such as "winnings" or "taxes", calls during the transaction | Delay the payment where policy and law allow, talk it through, call the trusted contact, report |
In FinCEN's analysis, elder scam filings accounted for about 80 percent of the EFE related activity reported, and FinCEN adds that this "does not necessarily indicate that scams occur more often than theft". Most scam filings also referenced account takeover. Among theft cases, filers named adult children as the perpetrators in nearly 40 percent. Misuse of a power of attorney sits under theft.
Theft and scams leave different traces, so one alert rule cannot catch both. Theft changes who controls the money: a new signatory, a changed power of attorney, card use the customer cannot explain. A scam shows up as the customer's own urgent payments to a new payee.
Which red flags point to elder financial exploitation?
FinCEN's advisory lists behavioral and financial warning signs, and asks that behavioral red flags "and the names of staff who witnessed them" go into the SAR narrative (p. 9). Eight that branch and check cashing staff can see:
- Sudden new contact details, such as new emails, phone numbers or accounts, some from overseas, because someone else may now be in charge.
- Directions on the phone: the customer takes direction from a caller during the transaction and will not hang up.
- A helper who does the talking, a caregiver with "excessive interest" in the customer's money who will not leave the customer's side.
- A sudden change of power of attorney, trust or estate plan that moves control of the money to a different family member or a new person.
- Gift cards bought in bulk, a payment scammers increasingly ask for.
- A sudden interest in crypto: the customer starts discussing and buying convertible virtual currency.
- Telling memo lines: "tech support services", "winnings" or "taxes".
- Urgency at any cost, from daily maximum ATM withdrawals to CDs closed "without regard to penalties".
The financial flags show up while a payment is being made. complead, formerly Sanction Scanner, runs fraud prevention that decides inside the payment request rather than producing a score to read afterwards, on one engine and one customer record; staff still talk to the customer, and the reviewer decides what is reported.
What does a firm have to do when it suspects EFE?
Table 2. EFE regulations and guidance by jurisdiction (as of October 2026).
| Jurisdiction | Rule | Who it binds | What it asks or allows | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | FinCEN Advisory FIN-2022-A002 | Institutions that file SARs | "EFE FIN-2022-A002" in SAR field 2, box 38(d) ticked, behavioral red flags and staff names in the narrative | Current since 15 June 2022 |
| US | Senior Safe Act, 12 U.S.C. 3423 | Covered financial institutions and trained staff | No liability for reporting suspected exploitation of a senior citizen to a covered agency in good faith and with reasonable care, once staff are trained | In force since 24 May 2018 |
| US | FINRA Rule 2165 | FINRA member broker dealers | A temporary hold for a Specified Adult (65 and older, or 18 and older with an impairment), up to 55 business days in total once reported to a state agency or court | In force |
| US | Proposed FINRA Rule 2166 (91 FR 57407) | FINRA member broker dealers, for any customer | A temporary delay of up to 10 business days where fraud is reasonably believed | Proposal; SEC action due by 8 December 2026 |
| US | Interagency statement of 4 December 2024 | Banks and credit unions supervised by the agencies | Practices: training, holds and disbursement delays consistent with law, trusted contacts, SARs | Not a rule: it "does not impose new regulatory requirements" |
| UK | FCA FG21/1, February 2021; POCA 2002 section 330 | FCA regulated firms; the regulated sector | Fair treatment of a customer who is "especially susceptible to harm"; disclosure of known or suspected money laundering to the nominated officer or the NCA | Guidance; statute in force |
In the US, the advisory also points firms to reporting EFE to law enforcement and to state based Adult Protective Services.
What moved on elder exploitation in 2026?
- April. The FBI's IC3 report for 2025 counted 201,266 complaints from people aged 60 and over, 37 percent more than in 2024, and $7.748 billion lost, 59 percent more, with an average loss of $38,500 (p. 44).
- 20 August. FINRA filed amendments to Rule 2165 and a new Rule 2166.
- 9 September. The SEC published the filing for comment.
- 8 October. FINRA extended the SEC's time to act to 8 December 2026, so 2166 is not in force.
Back at the branch, the illustrative customer's second wire is delayed under the bank's own policy. Staff talk to the customer, call the trusted contact on file and file a SAR with "EFE FIN-2022-A002" in field 2 and box 38(d) ticked. The file records what was seen and who saw it; it cannot promise the money comes back.
Related terms
- Romance scam. A fake relationship built to ask for money.
- Impersonation fraud. A caller posing as a bank, agency or relative.
- Suspicious activity report (SAR). The US report where the EFE key term goes.
- Money mule. Someone who moves money for criminals, sometimes a scam victim.
- Phishing. Messages that steal login details, a common start of account takeover.
- Financial misselling. Selling a product that does not suit the buyer.
How this entry was checked. The 81 year old customer is an illustration, not a case; every rule and figure around it comes from a primary text. The definition is FinCEN's, from Advisory FIN-2022-A002 of 15 June 2022, and the theft and scam split follows FinCEN's April 2024 trend analysis. The author, Barbaros Sercan (Customer Success Specialist at complead), also read the interagency statement of 4 December 2024, 12 U.S.C. 3423, FINRA Rule 2165 with the filing published at 91 FR 57407 and FINRA's letter of 8 October 2026, the FBI IC3 report for 2025, FCA FG21/1 and section 330 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; Javid Khasayev, Senior Anti Fraud Specialist at GoldenPay, checks them before publication. Last reviewed: 30 October 2026.
