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OTTAWA — Canada’s anti-money laundering agency is warning casinos to carefully eye customers who pay for their gaming with bank drafts — the latest method of choice for criminals trying to disguise dirty money.

The federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac, says in an operational alert issued today that cash is falling out of favour in illicit casino transactions due to intense media and government scrutiny.

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Instead, criminals are opting for the liquidity and quasi-anonymity of bank drafts, Fintrac’s recent analysis of suspicious casino-related transactions shows.

Professional money launderers are constantly adapting their methods, Fintrac director Nada Semaan said in an interview.

“They will always be looking at different ways to do it, and our job is to be a step ahead of them and figure that out,” she said.

“We can’t stop everybody, but we are working extremely hard on this and we are committed to doing more.”