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FDIC Warns of Fraudulent E-Mail

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Received as email from http://www.fdic.gov/:

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous notifications from consumers of an e-mail that gives the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The "From" line of the e-mail displays the name "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation consumer" and the subject includes the words "Consumer Protection."

Current versions of the fraudulent e-mail state:

     "Who is FDIC?

     The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) preserves and promotes public      confidence in the U.S. financial system by insuring deposits in banks.

     What can FDIC do for you?

     Despite the efforts of law enforcement, Identity theft is becoming more sophisticated and the      number of new victims is growing. In general,consumers are protected against liability for      unauthorized accounts or transactions under federal and state law and by financial industry      practices. Identity Theft can affect consumers in many ways, thats [sic] why FDIC is presenting      a new card insurance which can restore you up to $500 if you are a victim of internet fraud.

     Learn more about Consumer Protection > Card Insurance:
     Clicking here will redirect you to a online signup page for this program."

The e-mail requests that recipients click on a hyperlink that is provided. This directs the recipient to a "spoofed" Web page requesting the user to enter personal information to receive $500 of "card insurance." The requested information (name, phone number, Social Security number, address, card number, bank name, card expiration date, card verification code, and electronic signature/ATM PIN) could be used to perpetrate identity theft and gain unauthorized access to bank accounts. Be aware that the appearance of the fraudulent e-mails can be modified and that additional variations are possible.

Consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this media.

The FDIC has shut down the fraudulent Web site and is investigating the source of the e-mails. Consumers are asked to report any similar attempts to obtain this information to the FDIC by sending information to alert@fdic.gov.

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/2008/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

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Tax Rebate Is Lure for Identity Theft

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The IRS has advised taxpayers of several new email and telephone scams for the tax return filing season in a new press release. These scams, including one involving rebates, attempt to trick taxpayers into revealing sensitive information regarding financial accounts which the scammers then use to commit identity theft. The press release, which describes each of these scams and what to do about them, is summarized below.

Rebates are advance payments made available under the new government economic stimulus package. They are already being used as lures to get consumers to give up personal information which can then be used by the scamsters to steal from the victim's bank account. This identity theft starts with a phone call from someone impersonating an IRS employee. The target of the phone call is told that in order to receive a rebate, the caller must be given sensitive bank account information. This phone call is a scam. The IRS does not gather information by telephone.

The IRS is also warning of bogus email that claims to have a link to a tax refund claim form. Clicking the link opens a fake form in which the victim enters bank account or credit card information. The IRS does not send unsolicited email about tax account matters to taxpayers.

Another new email scam may be especially deceptive. It contains a salutation using an actual name and a notification that an audit is being made on the recipient's tax return. Other email scams have been typically based on spamming techniques in which names are not used. Not only is the use of an individual's name unusual, the scam is unique in that it involves the audit notification. The IRS has not seen such a scam before this one appeared.

The IRS press release also describes a bogus tax law email wherein the recipient is instructed to click on a link that will download for them information on tax law changes. In reality, clicking the link could introduce malware that gives remote access to the victim's computer.

The final new IRS alert involves another phone scam. Here, a target of a phony telephone call is advised that a check from the IRS has not been cashed and that the individual's bank account number must be supplied. Again, the IRS does not contact taxpayers over the phone for personal information. In this case, if a taxpayer is expecting a direct electronic deposit of a refund, it is up to the individual to supply the IRS with the bank routing and account numbers on the tax return.

Forward questionable email to the IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov, using instructions contained in the article "How to Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails or Phishing Schemes." This mailbox may also be used to notify the IRS of scams involving telephone calls.

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Security Freezes Are Now Available Nationwide

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Received as email from http://www.privacyrights.org/:

As of November 2007, the three credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - began offering security freezes nationwide. A security freeze is stronger and more effective than placing a fraud alert on your credit report, because it prevents anyone from accessing your credit file for any reason unless you instruct the credit bureaus to unfreeze your report. Most businesses will not issue credit without first reviewing the applicant's credit report or credit score. If an individual's credit report is frozen and a fraudster applies for credit in that individual's name, a creditor would deny the application, preventing an instance of identity theft.

The procedures and costs for placing a security freeze vary from state to state (in some states, security freezes are free for identity theft victims). Non-victims who want to activate the security freeze must pay a fee in most states. When applying for credit, the consumer can lift the freeze so that legitimate applications for credit or services can be processed.

For state-by-state information on security freezes, visit this Consumers Union Web page:
http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/
learn_more/003484indiv.html

For additional tips on avoiding identity theft, see our fact sheet "Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft" at
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17-it.htm.

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An Update on the Do Not Call List

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Received as email from http://www.privacyrights.org/:

Registrations on the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) popular Do Not Call list were set to expire in 5 years. For individuals that registered at the list's inception, the 5 year expiration would have occurred in 2008. The FTC has now decided that it will not drop any telephone numbers from its Do Not Call Registry based upon the five-year expiration period pending further action to make registration permanent.

When the Do Not Call list was developed, the FTC adopted a five-year re-registration mechanism and said that the list - which now contains more than 145 million phone numbers - would be periodically purged of disconnected or reassigned numbers. This was done to ensure that the
Registry was as accurate as possible. The Registry now includes a scrubbing program that removes disconnected and reassigned numbers each month.

The FTC has pledged to continue its efforts to maintain the Registry's accuracy and ensure the continued success of the Do Not Call program. It recently levied substantial penalties against
several companies alleged to call individuals on the Do Not Call list. Bedmaker Craftmatic has agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle claims that it called consumers at home despite their inclusion on the Do Not Call registry. The Craftmatic penalty is the second-largest to date behind DirecTV's $5.3 million fine in 2005.

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IRS Warns Taxpayers of New E-mail Scams

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The Internal Revenue Service has "alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an e-mail scam intended to fool people into believing they are under investigation by the agency’s Criminal Investigation division" according to an IRS press release.

"The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal Investigation falsely states that the person is under a criminal probe for submitting a false tax return to the California Franchise Tax Board. The e-mail seeks to entice people to click on a link or open an attachment to learn more information about the complaint against them." Clicking the link or opening the attachment enables someone to gain remote access to the victim's computer, endangering files on the hard disk. This type of attack, notes the article, is known as a Trojan Horse, a destructive program that pretends to be benign or even helpful.

The IRS press release goes on to state that the IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or ask for detailed personal and financial information including PIN numbers or passwords. "The IRS also sees other e-mail scams that involve tricking victims into revealing private personal and financial information over the Internet, a practice that is known as 'phishing' for information."

If you are a recipient of questionable e-mail claiming to come from the IRS, do not open any attachments or click on any links. Instead, forward the e-mail to phishing@irs.gov and follow the instructions.

Updates to the IRS press release describe other scams. One involves e-mail claiming to be an "investigation form" from the IRS "Fraud Department" but is in reality believed to be another Trojan Horse. Another phishing scam attempts to get recipients of a bogus IRS e-mail to fill out an online customer satisfaction survey and receive $80 in the process. The most recent e-mail scam reported by the IRS tells recipients that they are eligible to receive a tax refund. This e-mail makes use of a fraudulent web page that looks just like the IRS' legitimate "Where's My Refund?" web page. Recipents are either sent to the bogus page or it is sent to them as e-mail. Like other phishing schemes, this scam attempts to get the recipients to enter personal data such as SSNs, filing status and credit card account numbers. The IRS does not advise taxpayers of refunds via e-mail. Nor does it use e-mail to request financial information or initiate contact with taxpayers.

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Beware the Card Trap!

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The Card Trap is a very simple and easy way to capture cards in an ATM. The criminal begins the process by inserting a thin piece of folded plastic into the throat of the card reader. This plastic will “trap” the next inserted card and prevent it from fully entering the card reader of the ATM. A parasite devise can also be attached to read a card’s number. PIN data is also collected by means of a hidden camera or signs attached to the ATM directing the customer to perform any number of tasks that will allow the PIN to be ascertained. Often the criminal will pose as a fellow customer in line and offer help to the customer having difficulty. Customers who have their ATM card captured should immediately call into the Bank to report the incident, have their lost card blocked, and request a new card.

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Scams to look out for:

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We are aware of the fraudulent emails being sent about the suspension of FDIC Insurance and want to assure our customers their accounts at Community First Bank are FDIC protected. Please talk to one of personal bankers if you have concerns about the level of your FDIC insurance protection.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has alerted banks that they have been made aware of a scam where consumers receive an email that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The fraudulent email presents the recipients with an opportunity to secure their credit cards against fraud and to apply to be part of a secure online network launched by the FDIC in collaboration with various credit card providers. By accessing an embedded link, the email claims that the recipient can sign up for a free trial membership which provides shopping coupons for some of the more popular online retail outlets. This scam is an attempt to obtain personal information from consumers or to implant a computer virus onto the recipient’s computer. DO NOT ACCESS the link or attached files provided within the body of the email and DO NOT PROVIDE any personal information to unknown sources.
Another scam occurring recently is a consumer receiving an email from what appears to be your bank advising you that an internal security breach has occurred. The email tells the consumer that while everything has been stabilized, it still may be a good idea for you to visit the company website to change your personal information “just in case”. When the consumer clicks on the hyperlink inside the email, they are instantly transferred to your bank’s website. A pop up window appears with fields for your debit card number, current PIN and a new PIN. DO NOT PROVIDE any personal information to unknown sources or pop up boxes. If you comply with this request to protect your information, you will fall prey to the latest Internet scam. These crooks then use your information to make counterfeit debit cards to make unauthorized withdrawals against your account.

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