Counterfeit money orders bearing the name Astoria Federal Savings, Lake Success, New York, are reportedly in circulation

Astoria Federal Savings, Lake Success, New York, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit money orders bearing the institution's name are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the routing number 221472815, which is assigned to Astoria Federal Savings. The items are similar to authentic money orders; however, the counterfeit items display a security feature statement embedded in the top border and along the bottom border between two padlocks. An "AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE" line is displayed in the lower-right corner.

Authentic money orders have ornate borders on three sides. The word "MONEY ORDER" appears inside a rectangle embedded in the top border. The following security statement appears below the top border on each side of the rectangle: "HOLD THIS DOCUMENT UP TO THE LIGHT TO VIEW TRUE WATERMARK." The words "SENDER" and "ADDRESS" appear along the bottom.

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:

Charles Judson
First Vice President, Director of Security and AML Compliance Officer
Astoria Federal Savings
One Astoria Federal Plaza
Lake Success, New York 11042-1085
Telephone: (516) 327-7830
Fax: (516) 327-7481
E-mail: cjudson@astoriafederal.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