Fraud Alerts Archive

May 12, 2010

Mail Forwarding Scam

Having mail stolen from your mailbox is among everyone’s greatest fears. It can leave one feeling completely violated and vulnerable. A recent article on the KRQE.com website highlights the fact that identity thieves are becoming environmentally and economically conscientious. Instead of wasting gas by making a trip to yours and others mailboxes, they simply have the postal service deliver your mail directly to them.

How It Works:

You may receive a notice from the U.S. Postal Service informing you that your mail is about to be forwarded to another location. The problem is that it wasn’t you that requested the forwarding change of address.

Identity thieves in New Mexico are now scanning residential phone books and choosing several random names and addresses. With this information, an identity thief will fill out a change of address form, just like the ones an individual who has moved would submit. If the attempt to forward your mail is successful, your mail will be directed to a new postal address, often out-of-state. Once the address has been successfully changed, fake documents such as driver’s licenses can be obtained, credit card information stolen, and other personally identifiable information gleaned. Often times this information is sold to illegal immigrants in attempts to establish legal residency and obtain jobs.
Your Defense:

When a Forwarding Change of Address Order Form is submitted, the U.S. Postal Service will send a confirmation notice informing you that your mail is about to be forwarded to your new address. If you receive one of these notices and did not request the change of address, contact your local U.S. Postal Service office immediately and notify them that the forwarding address in question is not yours, and that they should put a halt to the forwarding of any of your mail. Also, you should contact all companies that send regular scheduled bills or statements (e.g. banks/credit unions, credit card, auto loan, utility, phone, etc.). And of course, you should contact the local police and file a police report.

You will have 7 – 10 days from the time the change of address form was submitted before the forwarding takes effect. The quicker you act, the safer your mail will be.

Read more on the U.S. Postal Service Change of Address Frequently Asked Questions.

If you believe your identity has been stolen, call 866.SMART68 today.

February 5th, 2010

Please, be advised that no financial institution, Visa or Mastercard will ever call you and ask for information from your credit or debit cards.  Do not give card information to anyone that initiates a call to you.  Also, do not respond to a text message asking for card information.  Your bank, Visa or Mastercard will not ask for your card information.

ABA WARNS OF FRAUDULENT EMAILS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 – The American Bankers Association has been alerted that someone or a group of individuals sending emails purporting to be from ABA are actually part of a scam commonly known as phishing. These con artists are sending emails asking people to click on a link for more information -- a popular technique to get financial information from the email recipient.

Phishing for financial information has been a long-standing practice. However, criminals are increasingly phishing for access to corporate, small business and government accounts and using that access to withdraw large sums of money from those accounts. Clicking on the link could enable fraudsters to download malicious software on to victims’ computers and steal bank passwords and other account information.

The emails inform recipients that an “unauthorized transaction” has been charged to their account using their “bank card.” The amount of the transactions is typically between $3,000 and $7,000. ABA would never contact a consumer and ask for financial information.

ABA is working with law enforcement to identify the source of the emails and to disrupt them. ABA offers the following advice to consumers, business and government organizations:

* Never give out financial information in response to an unsolicited phone call, fax or email, no matter how official it may seem. If you are uncertain, call your financial institution or the organization that is purportedly contacting you using a phone number you know is safe.
* If you have already responded to this type of call or email by providing financial information, contact your financial institution immediately to protect your account;
* Be extremely cautious about clicking on links within unsolicited emails. When in doubt, contact the organization purportedly sending the email.
* Inform the ABA about fraudulent phone calls and emails that use ABA’s name by sending an email to alert@aba.com.

Phishing Alert! -November 12
Falsified email purporting to be from NACHA is currently circulating

Random individuals and/or companies may have received a falsified e-mail with the subject title “Rejected ACH Transaction.” This e-mail appears to be from NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association telling them that there is a problem with an ACH transaction they have originated. The e-mail includes a link which redirects the individual to a fake web page which appears like the NACHA website and contains a link which is almost certainly executable virus with malware. See sample below.

IF YOU GET ONE OF THESE EMAILS DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK! The e-mail did not originate from NACHA and the website does not belong to NACHA. A sample of the phishing email follows:

= = = = = Sample E-mail = = = = = =
From: nacha.org [mailto:report@nacha.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:25 AM
To: Doe, John
Subject: Rejected ACH transaction, please review the transaction report
Dear bank account holder,
The ACH transaction, recently initiated from your bank account, was rejected by the Electronic Payments Association. Please review the transaction report by clicking the link below:
Unauthorized ACH Transaction Report (this is the how the link is presented in the phishing email)

Again, if you receive one of these emails, do not click on the link in the email! NACHA has put an alert about this phishing attempt on their legitimate website, which can be found at nacha.org. Please also feel free to contact EastPay at 1-800-681-4224 if you have any questions.

For more information, call EastPay at 1-800-681-4224.
www.eastpay.org

"Virus" Alert - October 29

There is another new virus/malware email going around the internet.

The subject line of the email states: “check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage” or “FDIC has officially named your bank a failed bank”.

The message contains instructions to click a link that if clicked will take the user to a spoofed FDIC web site with further instructions to download a file to check their Deposit Insurance Coverage. If the file is downloaded malware is installed on the computer presumably to collect sensitive personal information.

The FDIC has posted this alert on their WEBSITE warning consumers about this fraudulent email:

E-mail Claiming to Be From the FDIC – October 26, 2009

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of a fraudulent e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC.

The subject line of the e-mail states: “check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage.” The e-mail tells recipients that, "You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets.”

The e-mail then asks recipients to “visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage” (a fraudulent link is provided). It then instructs recipients to “download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage.”

This e-mail and associated Web site are fraudulent. Recipients should consider the intent of this e-mail as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, some of which may be used to gain unauthorized access to on-line banking services or to conduct identity theft.

The FDIC does not issue unsolicited e-mails to consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link in the fraudulent e-mail.

August 26, 2009

This is an alert from the American Bankers Association of a scam using their name.

ABA WARNS OF FRAUDULENT LETTERS, FAKE CHECKS

The American Bankers Association has been alerted that someone or a group of individuals sending cash prize letters purporting to be from ABA are actually part of fake check scam. These con artists are sending letters asking people to call a phone number to find out how to collect the prize it - a popular technique to get personal financial information from the letter recipient. Many of the letters contain one or more fraudulent checks, and a number of individuals have attempted to cash or deposit these fraudulent checks.

The fraudulent checks are listed as from ABA and ABD Federal Credit Union, however ABA believes other financial institutions may be targeted. The amount of the checks is typically between $1,000 and $5,000.

ABA is working with law enforcement to identify the source of the letters and to disrupt them. ABA offers the following advice to consumers:

• If you think someone is trying to pull a fake check scam, don't deposit the check - report it - because you are responsible for the money you withdrew if the check or money order bounces. To report a fake check or find out more information on how you can avoid them, go to fakecheck.org.
• Never give out your personal financial information in response to an unsolicited phone call, fax or email, no matter how official it may seem. If you are uncertain, call your financial institution yourself using a phone number you know is safe.
• If you have already responded to this type of call or email by providing your personal financial information, contact your financial institution immediately to protect your account;
• Inform the ABA about fraudulent phone calls and emails that use ABA's name by sending an email to alert@aba.com.

August 28, 2009

A fraudulent text message was sent regarding suspended Citizens & Farmers Bank ATM cards. The message was not from Citizens & Farmers Bank. It was a mass message sent to mobile telephones regardless of the owner's banking relationships.

Back to Security Center