Counterfeit money orders bearing the name Lowell Five are reportedly in circulation

The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank, Lowell, Massachusetts, 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 211371337, which is assigned to The Lowell Five Cents Savings Bank. The items are very similar to authentic money orders except that the words "MONEY ORDER" are circled on the authentic money orders.

Copies of a counterfeit item and an authentic money order (VOID) are attached for your review. 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:

Glenn Goldman
Senior Vice President of Compliance and Risk
The Lowell Five Cents Savings Bank
One Merrimack Plaza
Lowell, Massachusetts 01852
Telephone: (978) 441-6458
Fax: (978) 452-6747
E-mail: ggoldman@lowellfive.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