How to Report Money Laundering Anonymously: FBI, FinCEN, SEC & IRS

You can report money laundering anonymously to federal authorities through the FBI, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or the IRS. Each runs its own tip channel, each treats submissions as confidential, and several pay awards of 10 to 30 percent of sanctions collected when a tip leads to a successful enforcement action. How much anonymity you get, and whether you stay eligible for an award, depends on which agency you choose and how you file.

Pick the Agency That Matches the Conduct

More than one agency may fit. You can submit to several if the activity crosses categories.

FBI. The Electronic Tip Form at tips.fbi.gov covers all federal crimes, including money laundering. Name and contact fields are optional, so you can submit with nothing identifying attached. The tradeoff is that investigators cannot come back to you for clarification.¹
FinCEN. Best fit when you’ve seen a specific Bank Secrecy Act or sanctions violation. FinCEN’s whistleblower program accepts anonymous tips through an online portal and also accepts submissions through an attorney.²
SEC. Use the Tips, Complaints, and Referrals (TCR) portal when the laundering involves investment fraud, market manipulation, or other securities violations. The SEC keeps submissions confidential and does not disclose information that could identify a whistleblower.³
IRS Criminal Investigation. Handles money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act violations, and tax fraud tied to illicit funds. You can report anonymously without seeking an award, or file Form 211 to claim one, which requires your identity.⁴

Gather Specifics Before You File

A tip built on concrete facts is much more useful than a general suspicion. Investigators will subpoena the records themselves; your job is to point them at the right ones.

Full names of the individuals or registered names of the businesses involved.
Dates, times, and dollar amounts of the transactions you observed.
The banks, credit unions, or payment platforms where the transactions occurred, plus any account numbers, routing numbers, or wallet addresses you have.
Patterns you’ve noticed. Structuring, sometimes called smurfing, means breaking cash into deposits under $10,000 to dodge federal reporting requirements, which is itself a crime. Layering means moving funds through multiple accounts or entities to obscure the source. Describe what you saw even if you don’t know the technical name.⁵
Supporting documents: invoices, statements, wire records, emails, screenshots. Over- or under-invoicing, mismatched shipment records, and shell entities with no apparent business activity are worth flagging.
Physical addresses of businesses or properties connected to the activity.

Stick to facts and transactions. You do not need to prove the crime.

How Each Agency Handles Anonymous Submissions

FBI Electronic Tip Form

Go to tips.fbi.gov, pick the category that best fits money laundering, and leave the personal fields blank if you want to stay anonymous. The form accepts the submission either way.¹

FinCEN Whistleblower Program

Submit through FinCEN’s online portal, either directly and anonymously or through an attorney. The Office of the Whistleblower will confirm receipt and send a reference number you’ll use for future communications.²

SEC TCR Portal

The SEC encourages electronic submission through the TCR portal.³ To file anonymously, you must be represented by an attorney, whose name and contact information go on the form in place of yours. You will eventually have to disclose your identity to the SEC before any award is paid.⁶ The portal returns a confirmation receipt with a submission number at the time of filing.

IRS Reporting

The IRS gives you two paths. If you want to stay fully anonymous and do not want an award, you can report the information without filing a formal claim. If you want an award, you file Form 211, which requires your contact information and a signature under penalty of perjury.⁴ Form 211 asks for a description of the violation, how and when you learned about it, any supporting documents, and your relationship, if any, to the person or entity you’re reporting. It includes a checkbox specifically for money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations.⁷ The IRS encourages reporting suspicious activity regardless of the dollar amount.⁸

Physical Mail

If you’d rather avoid any digital footprint, mail hard copies from a public mailbox without a return address. Some reporters have an attorney submit paperwork so only the attorney’s office address appears on the filing.

Protect Your Identity Beyond the Form

Filing anonymously is only one layer. If you submit electronically, watch the digital trail too.

Don’t file from a home or work network. Use public Wi-Fi at a library or similar location.
A VPN masks your IP address, and the Tor browser routes traffic through multiple servers. You can use both.
If the agency asks for an email, set up a new account, unconnected to your real name, with an encrypted provider.
Strip metadata from any files you upload. PDFs, photos, and spreadsheets can carry hidden information showing who created the file, when, and on what device.

Hiring an attorney gives you the strongest cover. The attorney submits forms, talks to investigators, and stays the sole point of contact, so your name never appears in the official record. For SEC submissions, an attorney is required if you want to file anonymously and remain eligible for an award.⁶

Can You Stay Anonymous and Still Get an Award?

Sometimes yes, sometimes only up to a point. The rules differ by program.

FinCEN. Under the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act, enacted in 2023, FinCEN pays 10 to 30 percent of monetary sanctions collected in a successful enforcement action, provided those sanctions exceed $1,000,000.⁹ The program covers Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. economic and trade sanctions violations, and your information must be original. Anonymous and attorney-filed tips are accepted.²

SEC. Also pays 10 to 30 percent when sanctions exceed $1,000,000.¹⁰ Anonymous filing requires an attorney, and you must disclose your identity before an award is paid.⁶

IRS. The IRS whistleblower program generally pays 15 to 30 percent of proceeds collected. If the tax, penalties, and interest in dispute exceed $2,000,000 (and, for individual taxpayers, the target’s gross income exceeded $200,000 in at least one year at issue), an award of 15 to 30 percent is mandatory. Below that threshold, the IRS may still pay an award at its discretion.⁴ Filing Form 211 requires your identity, so a fully anonymous IRS report and an IRS award are incompatible.

DOJ. The Department of Justice launched a Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program in August 2024. Awards are available when the information leads to criminal or civil forfeiture exceeding $1,000,000 in net proceeds.¹¹

Retaliation Protections if You’re an Employee

The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 bars employers from firing, demoting, threatening, or harassing workers who provide information about money laundering or Bank Secrecy Act violations to federal authorities. Protections also cover people who report internally to their employer.

If retaliation happens, file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration within 90 days of learning of the retaliatory action. If OSHA finds retaliation occurred and no settlement is reached, it can order reinstatement, double back pay, and restoration of benefits. If the Department of Labor has not issued a final order within 180 days, you can file the retaliation claim directly in federal court.¹²

After You File

Save the confirmation number the agency gives you. The SEC returns one through the portal at submission,³ and FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower sends one after receiving your tip.² That number is your only way to track the submission or communicate with the agency later.

Don’t expect updates. Money laundering investigations trace funds across accounts, institutions, and sometimes countries, and can take years. Federal agencies keep tight confidentiality about ongoing cases and generally won’t share details on arrests, seizures, or status. If investigators need more from you, they’ll reach out through whatever contact method you left, or through your attorney if one is on file. Keep quiet about the report otherwise. Even casual conversation risks the investigation and your anonymity.

1
FBI. Electronic Tip Form
2
FinCEN.gov. Submitting a Tip
3
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Information About Submitting a Whistleblower Tip
4
Internal Revenue Service. Submit a Whistleblower Claim for Award
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FinCEN.gov. Notice to Customers: A CTR Reference Guide
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Regulation 21F
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IRS Whistleblower Office. Form 211, Application for Award for Original Information
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000
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Treasury.gov. FinCEN FY 2026 BIB
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Awards $6 Million to Joint Whistleblowers
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U.S. Department of Justice. Criminal Division Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Whistleblower Protection for Reporting Money Laundering