We have been informed there are several checks from North Shore Bank that are fraudulent.  Most of them are written for $3500.00.

Do not click on the link in these emails, these are fraudulent.  As always, if you do not see your Passmark image when logging into our e-banking, please stop and contact E-services Support at 800-319-6110. 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is reminding financial institutions, businesses and consumers that fraudulent correspondence claiming to be from the FDIC continues to be mailed, faxed and e-mailed in the United States and other countries. The correspondence uses various techniques to gain the trust of recipients in hopes they will provide sensitive personal information, including bank account numbers, that can be used to steal money and other assets. Recipients should NOT, under any circumstances, respond to the fraudulent requests. Institutions also are encouraged to inform customers that fraud artists may use the names of the FDIC and other government agencies and to take appropriate precautions.

The criminals, knowing that people trust the FDIC name, have duplicated the official logo and seal in fraudulent letters, forms, certificates and other correspondence. Recent examples have included invoices, bills, transfer forms, guarantees, endorsements, and confirmations of stock and investment purchases. In some cases, recipients were asked to complete fraudulent forms and return them by fax or e-mail. In other cases, recipients were asked to remit funds via check or wire transfer service.

The FDIC rarely sends unsolicited bills or other similar documents to financial institutions, businesses and consumers. In particular, the FDIC does not send unsolicited correspondence asking for sensitive personal information, including bank account information. Anyone receiving such correspondence should contact the FDIC immediately by calling the Corporation's toll-free telephone number at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342) or by e-mailing to alert@fdic.gov. Do not use contact information listed for the FDIC in the correspondence because it is likely to be falsified. Questions can also be submitted to the FDIC using an online form at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's website at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2007/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has become aware of e-mails that appear to be sent from the FDIC or VeriSign, Inc. and ask recipients to run a "security guard script" to secure Web sites. Currently, the e-mails are purportedly from "FDIC Legal Information Technology," "FDIC Information Security," or "Verisign Inc." and the subject lines include the phrase "Regular Security Maintenance" or "Regular Hosting Security Maintenance." The e- mails are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC or VeriSign, Inc.

The fraudulent e-mails state that "to secure your websites, please use the attached file and (for UNIX/Linux Based servers) upload the file "vprotect.php" in: "./public_html" or (for Windows Based servers) in: "./wwwroot" in your site." The e-mails also provide instructions for recipients who "do not know how to use" the file.

The FDIC is working with the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team to determine the exact effects of the executable file. Recipients should consider this file to be a malicious attempt to collect personal or confidential information. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT download the executable file attached to the e-mails. Consumers and financial institutions should report any similar situations by following the procedures below.

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4004, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Questions related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2007/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has become aware of e-mails that appear to be sent from ViewPoint Bank Financial Solutions and the FDIC. The e-mail requests the recipient to register for a "SON - Secure Online Network" code to protect against credit card fraud. The e-mail instructs the recipient to click on a hyperlink to initiate "SON" registration in an attempt to acquire the recipient's personal financial information. These e-mails are fraudulent and were not sent by either ViewPoint Bank or the FDIC. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of these e-mails and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this media. The FDIC does not directly contact consumers, nor does the FDIC request personal financial information from consumers.

The fraudulent e-mails describe fictitious relationships between the FDIC and VISA, MasterCard, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon.com, and Half.com. The e-mails claim that consumers will receive a 15 percent discount at various Web sites upon completion of the form. These fraudulent e-mails may be modified over time, reflecting different financial institution names or business relationships.

The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the fraudulent e-mails and disrupt the transmission. Until this is achieved, consumers and financial institutions should notify the FDIC at alert@fdic.gov of any similar attempts to obtain personal financial information.

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4004, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Information related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2007/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Crane Federal Credit Union - a local Southern Indiana bank was subject of a phishing attack on it's customer's accounts.   Below is the letter to it's customers:

Dear Crane Federal Credit Union Member:

Our credit union has recently been the victim of an email phishing attack. Emails with various scenarios are circulating regarding a survey we are allegedly conducting that will reward you with a cash payment if you participate. The email asks you to click on a link that takes you to a web site that has been setup to look like a valid Crane FCU web site. Please be advised that this site is NOT a Crane Federal Credit Union web presence. The survey site asks several leading questions and then for information such as Online Banking login and password and credit card information.

We are working with the Federal Agencies and our security team diligently to take down the suspect sites as quickly as possible. The Internet is a free market and therefore you should review the guidelines we have posted on the web site or contact a Member Service Specialist regarding security, privacy, identity theft, and phishing. If you have already received the fraudulent email and responded to it with the information requested, please contact a Member Service Specialist at any Crane Federal Credit Union location immediately to protect against further repercussions of this phishing scam.

If you receive the fraudulent email please delete it and clean your deleted items. In the future if you receive any email from, or appears to be from Crane Federal Credit Union that does not match up with our guidelines regarding email and online security, please call a Member Service Specialists prior to any action.

Additionally, you can file formal complaints concerning any suspected fraudulent e-mail with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) at www.ic3.gov. The IFCC is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National White Collar Crime Center.

You may contact us regarding this issue at your local branch or by calling toll free at 800-692-3274. Ask to speak to a member Service Specialist.

Thank You –

Dale Quakenbush

Crane Federal Credit Union

Victims will receive a letter stating that they have unclaimed lottery winnings.  The letter tells the details such as ticket number, serial number of the ticket, the date of the drawing, and the winnings amount.

Here are some clues to tip you off on these types of scams:

• The recipient is addressed via a label on the letter. 

• The letter asks that the recipient keeps quiet

Page 1 of Letter (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, click here to get it for FREE)

Example of Check

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has become aware of fraudulent e-mails appearing to be from the FDIC. The e-mails ask recipients to click on a hyperlink titled "Take the Corrective Action – Implement the LinkBank System." When accessed, the hyperlink takes the individual to a "spoofed" FDIC Web page. At that point, the individual is directed to provide online banking information, including bank name, username, and password.

The fraudulent e-mails appear in "memo format" and are purportedly from "Russell A. Rau, Assistant Inspector General for Audits." The e-mails include a "Subject" line that states: "Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection's Risk-Focused Compliance Examination Process for [recipient's name inserted] (Report No. 05-038)."

The FDIC does not directly contact consumers in this manner, nor does the FDIC request personal financial information from consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of these e-mails and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this medium.

Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that other similar e-mails may be sent that falsely claim to be from the FDIC.

The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the fraudulent e-mails and disrupt the transmission. Until this is achieved, consumers and financial institutions should notify the FDIC at alert@fdic.gov of any similar attempts to obtain personal financial information.

Old National Bank, Evansville, Indiana, has contacted the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to report that counterfeit cashier's checks bearing the bank's name are in circulation. The items are reportedly associated with various lottery scams.

The counterfeit items display the routing number 086300012, which is assigned to Old National Bank. The counterfeit items presented to date have been dark blue, green and purple in color and are printed on versa stock paper. The items appear to have a security statement along the top border. The items have neither a remitter line, nor a security statement along the bottom. Correspondence accompanying the counterfeit items alerts the recipients of their winning status in either a sweepstakes or lottery. Copies of the correspondence are not available at this time.

For additional information or to verify the authenticity of the check, please contact:

Mail:	Corporate Security Department Old National Bank Evansville, Indiana
Phone:	(866) 795-7474
Fax:	(812) 461-9313
E-mail:	security@oldnational.com

Additional information concerning this matter may be brought to the OCC's attention:

Mail:	Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Special Supervision Division, MS 6-4 250 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20219
Fax:	(202) 874-5214
E-mail:	occalertresponses@occ.treas.gov
Internet:	http://www.occ.treas.gov

 

Victims will receive a letter advising them to go to a bank where they are a non-customer and get a cash advance on a credit card, then go to Western Union to wire the cash.  By doing it at a bank where they are a non-customer, it could lead to a large financial loss for the victim.

FDIC Consumer Call Centers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., have begun receiving a large number of complaints by consumers who received an e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The e-mail informs the recipient that Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has advised the FDIC to suspend all deposit insurance on the recipient’s bank account due to suspected violations of the USA PATRIOT Act. The e-mail further indicates that deposit insurance will be suspended until personal identity, including bank account information, can be verified.

This e-mail was not sent by the FDIC and is a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal information from consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.

The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and disrupt the transmission. Until this is achieved, consumers are asked to report any similar attempts to obtain this information to the FDIC by sending information to alert@fdic.gov.

The Federal Trade Commission: Your National Resource for Identity Theft

How can someone steal your identity? Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes.

Identity theft is a serious crime. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years - and their hard-earned money - cleaning up the mess thieves have made of their good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims may lose job opportunities, be refused loans, education, housing or cars, or even get arrested for crimes they didn't commit.

If you think your identity has been stolen, here's what to do now:

Links:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2006/index.html

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

There are fraudulent checks coming from a company called A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.  The issuing bank is Bank of America in Los Angeles, CA.  These documents appear to be authentic.  Upon checking into them, the routing number is correct, but there is no account by this number.  Individuals scammed by this say that they were asked to send $20 to A-Mark in order to win a sweepstakes.

Example of Fraudulent Check

There are fraudulent checks coming from a company called A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc.  The issuing bank is Bank of America in Los Angeles, CA.  These documents appear to be authentic.  Upon checking into them, the routing number is correct, but there is no account by this number.  Individuals scammed by this say that they were asked to send $20 to A-Mark in order to win a sweepstakes.

Example of Fraudulent Check

There are fraudulent travelers cheques coming from persons in South Africa.  These documents have areas that appear to be erasures on the signature line and also on the MICR line.  Upon calling Mastercard Travelers Cheques to get verification, they told us the following things: The serial number of the item was a valid travelers cheque; however, the denomination is not the correct amount for this serial number.   The operator gave several other items to verify on the cheque:  The printed area should be raised (it was not); the background image should disappear as I rub across it (it did not) and a white circle on the back should have an image of a goddess when held up to the light (there was not).

If in doubt of a fraudulent travelers cheque, please bring it to your local bank or law enforcement office for verification.

 

NOTE: If a prospective juror has a question about a jury service call, contact your local county courthouse.

 

This has been confirmed by SNOPES (http://www.snopes.com):
__________________________________________________
Beware - Jury Duty Scam

Most of us take those summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people
skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has
surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS.

In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who
threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you
didn't show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator.
If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer
asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can
verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even
ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and bingo!
Your identity just got stolen.

The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma,
Illinois, Colorado, and Texas.

This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the
phone to try and bully people into giving information by pretending they're
with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued
nationwide alerts on their websites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
 

More resources:

http://www.mtlebanon.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BAC0ACB74-0DA8-4C07-B36C-3CAD4F89CEF2%7D

http://www.wane.com/Global/story.asp?S=3915794&nav=menu32_12

http://www.phha.org/watch/identyTheft/juryScam.asp

 

Fraudulent checks from Frontier Bank are circulating.  The remitter is listed as Capital Financial.  They are for $7,400.00 and appear to be a genuine item.  Click below for an image of the check.

 

Image of Check

 

Fraudulent Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco checks are circulating.  Click below for the full article on this incident in PDF form (you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, click here to get it for FREE).

 

Full Article

 

E-mail scam artists are going "phishing" for consumers' personal-identity and financial-account information, and in some cases are reeling in the catch of the day.

 

(courtesy of Linton Daily Citizen, 4/11/05 Edition; added 4-12-05)

Victims of this scam will receive a letter concerning a lottery winning out of Canada.  The letter looks very official explaining that they are one of 17 people who will share a 5.36 million prize making the amount to be received in the future some $315,000.  It is unclear what the $4,580 represents.  The check is in the amount of $4,580 drawn on TCF National Bank out of Burr Ridge, IL.  From all appearances, it looks real.  It is on watermarked official check paper.

Bloomfield State Bank has talked with someone from TCF and they did say that this fraud has been going on a little more than one week.

Here are some clues to tip you off on these types of scams:

• The recipient is addressed via a label on the letter. 

• The letter asks that the recipient keeps quiet

Page 1 of Letter / Page 2 of Letter (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, click here to get it for FREE)

Image of Check

Our local postmaster has informed us that the US Postal Service is experiencing a huge increase in fraudulent money orders.  Many Indiana banks have been victims.  Generally the checks have been for $900 or $1,000 and the customer (non-customer) has taken cash for the checks.  The customer may have accepted the check(s) as payment in good faith and they too have been defrauded. 

Below you will find a link to a sample brochure describing money orders that she sent to me.   On page two, it shows characteristics of an authentic money order.    Please study the characteristics of an original postal money order so you might be able to detect a fraudulent item. 

USPS Money Orders Reference Guide  (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view, click here to get it for FREE)

Article About Scam From Richard P. Weiss - USPS Employee

The FBI warned last week of the Sober.k worm virus, advising Americans to ignore the E-mail spoofs that pose as they are from the federal government.  Sober.k, which also arrives as file attachments to messages offering free access to X-rated videos of Paris Hilton and as security updates from Microsoft, can appear with a variety of FBI-like addresses, including "FBI@FBI.gov" and "police@fbi.gov."

The text of such messages reads:

"Dear Sir/Madam, we have logged your IP address on more than 40 illegal Websites.  Important: Please answer our questions!  The list of questions are attached.    Yours faithfully, M. John Stellford Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2130 Washington, DC  20535 (202) 324-3000

 

"These E-mails did not come from the FBI," the agency said in a statement.  "Recepients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited E-mails to the public in this manner."

 

Earlier this month, the FBI shut down an E-mail system it used to communicate with the public because of a possible security breach.

(added 3-7-05)

There have been cases of local people receiving calls from a man named Darin Matthews claiming to work for Profile Protection Group.  One person had caller ID and it displayed the number as 202-360-4068, a Washington DC number.  Darin claimed that there was a bank draft issued out of the customer's account and they needed to credit the money back.

If you receive calls such as this, please DO NOT give out personal information about your account.  Being aware of fraudulent activity like this will aid you in making the right decision if it happens to you.

(added 3-4-05)

Incidents of fraud are on the increase, and several area residents have been scammed.

"It's hitting, and hitting hard, nationwide," said Lt. Det. Troy Jerrell of the Linton Police Department. "It's astronomical, and it's going to get much worse before it gets better."

(courtesy of Linton Daily Citizen, 2/17/05 Edition; added 2-18-05)

Watch out for lending scams.  Or you could lose your 'Home Sweet Home'.

(added 1-7-05)

Fraudulent telemarketers have found yet another way to steal your money, this time from your checking account. Consumers across the country are complaining about unauthorized debits (withdrawals) from their checking accounts.

(added 12-24-04)

There is a scam going around now through the mail that claims that you can win money from Nigeria.  The letter even has a very real looking check.  They want to know a lot of info to award you the money. The check or money order has a routing number, etc on it.  It looks VERY real (much like below).  Since the money order below is from a real company and you can get ones that look exactly like this at CVS, Wal-Mart, etc., many are falling into this scam and finding out later that these are counterfeit.  Keep a watch out and if something looks suspicious, please do some research on the item.  If you suspect fraud, please notify us by or call any branch location and notify your local law enforcement.

The email informs the recipient that Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has advised the FDIC to suspend all deposit insurance on the recipient’s bank account due to suspected violations of the USA PATRIOT Act. The email further indicates that deposit insurance will be suspended until personal identity, including bank account information, can be verified.

This email was not sent by the FDIC or Bloomfield State Bank and is a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal information from consumers. Consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the email and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.

Please Notify Bloomfield State Bank, forward an email to us at and visit the FDIC's Press Release:

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2004/pr0604.html

Bloomfield State Bank is NOT sending emails regarding Internet Billing Notices and Bloomfield State Bank will NOT suspend your internet banking service. These emails were NOT originated by Bloomfield State Bank and warrant no validity. We recommend you disregard emails of this nature and delete them immediately as they may contain a virus.

Bloomfield State Bank will always post information regarding new policies and procedures on our website, www.bloombank.com. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 800-319-6110 or by . If you have any questions regarding virus information we recommend you visit your virus software provider's website or the website www.symantec.com.

Below is a version of the fraudulent email being sent:

Subject: Billing Notice From bloombank.com

***  bloombank.com 's Billing dpt notice ***
Internet Billing Notice
Please press "open" and read the attached Billing Notice.

Note if you do not read this within 24 hours we at bloombank.com regret to inform you we will have to suspend internet service

Below is a version of the fraudulent email being sent:

Subject: Warning about your e-mail account.

Dear user, the management of Bloombank.com mailing system wants to let you know that,

Your e-mail account will be disabled because of improper using in next three days, if you are still wishing to use it, please, resign your account information.

For details see the attached file.

In order to read the attach you have to use the following password: 27051.

Sincerely,

The Bloombank.com team http://www.bloombank.com

 

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