The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC) has published two new financial crime guides to guide entities on how to tackle ransomware attack payments and prevent the misuse of digital currencies for criminal purposes.
A report by the Australian Cyber Security Center (ACSC) revealed that the number of ransomware attacks in Australia has increased by 15% in just one year. Moreover, financial criminals are targeting digital currencies to commit their illicit acts. Thus, it is crucial to segregate suspicious activities related to digital currencies from genuine and legitimate transactions.
AUSTRAC’s guide provides a list of indicators that entities may use to identify and report a suspicious payment that could have originated because of a ransomware attack. In the other guidance, AUSTRAC has discussed how entities can recognize if someone is using digital currencies to commit ML/TF. AUSTRAC suggests that entities use these guides to improve their suspicious activity reporting.
Source: AUSTRAC
