The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Friday released an advisory urging banks, casinos, mortgage companies and other financial institutions to watch for red flags indicating employers are illegally hiring and concealing workers not authorized to work in the United States.
The advisory, issued by FinCEN on June 5, calls on financial institutions to deploy detection methods for schemes that cover up the employment of people who lack legal work authorization, the agency said in a press release. The guidance covers a broad range of institutions including depository banks, credit unions, money services businesses, securities and futures firms, casinos, insurance companies, mortgage brokers, and the precious metals and jewelry industries.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tied the advisory to the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
“This administration will not allow illegal aliens to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers,” Bessent said in the FinCEN release.
The advisory directs institutions to look for red flags including shell companies, identity theft, fraudulently used Social Security and worker identification numbers, and other detectable signs of fraud, according to the release.
FinCEN said the hiring, concealing and exploiting of workers without visas can give certain employers advantages over competitors, depress wages, facilitate identity theft and deprive the United States of tax revenue. The agencies said the practice can also help fund criminal enterprises including drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The Treasury Department said more than $2.5 billion in suspicious activity reported by financial institutions in 2025 was linked to payroll fraud schemes. The department noted one multi-year scheme that it said cost the United States more than $38 million in tax revenue.
Under current law, employers must petition U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for eligibility before a prospective non-immigrant employee can apply for a visa at the State Department or enter through a port of entry, according to USCIS procedures.