Counterfeit official checks bearing the name Community Bank of the South, Smyrna, Georgia, are reportedly in circulation

Community Bank of the South (CBS), Smyrna, Georgia, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit official checks bearing the institution's name are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the routing number 096016765, assigned to The Provident Bank. The items are nearly identical to authentic official checks; however, the counterfeit items display a warning security statement in the top center and have no borders.

Authentic checks display the routing number 011007092, which is assigned to The Bank of New York Mellon. Community Bank of the South issues official checks through The Bank of New York Mellon, Massachusetts. Authentic checks have ornate borders and display a security feature statement below the top border.

Copies of a counterfeit item and an authentic check (VOID) are attached for your review. Please be aware that the appearance of counterfeit items can be modified and that additional variations may be presented.

Any information you have concerning this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Tammy Freeman
Group Vice President
Community Bank of the South
3016 Atlanta Road
Smyrna, Georgia 30080
Telephone: (678) 385-7505
Fax: (678) 385-7970
E-mail: tfreeman@cbsouth.com

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 website at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2009/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Sandra L. ThompsonDirector
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection