FinCEN and Treasury have issued warnings about fraudulent ANTI-TERRORIST STOP ORDER letters and fraudulent emails purportedly sent from government agencies seeking personal information.
The letters, bearing a bad copy of the Treasury Department's seal, with part of the address being "EUROPEAN HEADQUATERS," notify consumers that mandatory fees in amounts of approximately $25,000 are required for the issuance of an ANTI-TERRORIST CERTIFICATE before transactions can be conducted. The letters themselves, in addition to containing misspelled words, are grammatically poor specimens. ("The funds being realized is being used for the fight of terrorist money laundry the world over.")
The emails are more insidious. They are theoretically from FDIC, OCC, or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and others. They are part of a scam known as "phishing." If they can con the user into updating and entering information such as address, social security number, and account numbers, they ask that the information be forwarded by clicking on what appears to be a government entity address, but which actually is a bogus Web site. Several received in the BANKERS' HOTLINE editorial office supposedly from FDIC even asked for the PIN attached to the accounts! Unfortunately, the inquiry sites look very official.
These scams are explained in detail on the BankersOnline web site. Refer your depositors there if they have any questions or concerns. Reports of any attempts to obtain information should be sent to the webmaster@fincen.treas.gov.
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