FDIC Warns of E-Mail Scam

April 8, 2004
The FDIC is warning consumers and banks about the latest scam that tries to get consumers to part with information about their bank account.

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The agency says it has received complaints from consumers who received an e-mail that appears to have been sent by the FDIC. The e-mail is purportedly from "security@fdic.com" and the subject is "fraud report."

The e-mail tells recipients that their bank account has been temporarily closed because of fraudulent activity. The e-mail directs the recipient to review the contents of an embedded attached file for details related to the fraudulent activity as well as for information on how to contact the FDIC.

These e-mails are not being sent by the FDIC and may be a fraudulent attempt to implant a computer virus onto the recipient’s computer or to obtain personal information from consumers.

Financial institutions and consumers should not access the link or attached files provided within the body of the e-mail and should not under any circumstances provide any personal information to unknown sources.

The suspect e-mails should be deleted immediately.

The FDIC was hit in January when a "phishing" scam was used to try to lure consumers into entering their personal bank-account information onto a Web page that claimed to be from the agency. That scam told consumers that their federal deposit insurance had been canceled because of alleged fraud, then asked them to click a link to go to a Web page to report any problems.

Instead, the link sent the user to an overseas site.

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