The U.S. Treasury Department issued an advisory Monday urging financial institutions to guard against fraud schemes targeting Medicare and Medicaid.
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced the action on March 30 in support of President Trump’s pledge to combat fraud. FinCEN also proposed a rule to pay whistleblowers for tips on illicit financial activity.
Financial institutions filed 20% more suspicious activity reports related to health care in 2025 than in 2024, following President Trump’s pledge to eliminate fraud nationwide.
“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being used to commit fraud,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a news release. “Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to find and disrupt fraud schemes wherever they exist, and we will work with our law enforcement partners to hold perpetrators to account.”
The advisory details how fraudsters, organized crime groups, and transnational criminal organizations exploit federal and state health care benefit programs. It describes schemes that file false claims for reimbursement, including nonexistent, exploitative, substandard, or unnecessary medical care.
Transnational criminal organizations send non-resident aliens into the United States as straw owners of health care providers or suppliers registered with the programs, the advisory states. The groups illicitly obtain beneficiary names and identification numbers to submit false claims, often through kickbacks and bribes to complicit medical professionals.
After payments hit bank accounts of shell companies, the organizations launder proceeds through U.S. and international financial systems using wire transfers, digital assets, and complicit insiders at financial institutions.
Combating such fraud ranks among FinCEN’s national priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism. The advisory aligns with Executive Order 14249 on protecting federal payments from fraud, waste, and abuse. It was coordinated with the FBI and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
The action follows Treasury Secretary Bessent’s trip to Minnesota earlier this year, where he outlined steps to detect and stop government benefits fraud.
FinCEN’s proposed rule outlines procedures for whistleblowers to report violations, including fraud and money laundering. Eligible tipsters could receive 10% to 30% of penalties from enforcement actions under the Bank Secrecy Act and International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
FinCEN launched a webpage in February for confidential tips. The public can report health care fraud to HHS-OIG. Cyber fraud victims should contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center or a local field office.
Questions regarding the advisory should be directed to FinCEN’s Regulatory Support Section at www.fincen.gov/contact.
The full FIN-2026-A001 is available online.