|
 |
Home >> Scams/Fraud
Skipping the Middle Man -
Scammers Go Straight to the Bank
If you get a call from your bank suggesting that you should close out your checking account and reopen with a new account number, go ahead and check things out by calling the bank back using their published customer service number. But if you're tempted to "blow it off" as a scam or marketing gimmick, don't. Your bank may truly be trying to protect your account from one of the newer scams being reported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
|
|
Yes, counterfeit check scam artists have added a new wrinkle as they invent new ways to separate bank customers from their hard-earned money.
Just when you think you're well-informed about bad check scams, and protected by that knowledge, along comes a scheme to skip the middle man, and go straight for your bank account!
The FDIC recently reported that several banks have received letters that appear to be from the FDIC, directing that checks enclosed with the letters be credited to a named customer's deposit account. According to the FDIC, "the fraudulent letters have included one or more counterfeit official or cashier's checks and state that the FDIC is authorizing the deposit of the instruments as a payment to a customer's deposit account. The letters provide an actual customer's name and account number."
When a crook tries to deposit counterfeit official bank checks to an innocent bank customer's account, the motives can only be larceny and fraud. The scam artists involved in this scheme must be counting on some of the counterfeit checks being deposited, so that they might quickly withdraw the "deposits" before the original counterfeits are returned to the unsuspecting banks and their equally innocent depositors.
Because whoever is creating the bogus FDIC letters has actual bank customer names and account numbers, banks receiving the letters should be contacting those customers, even if the bank did not get duped by the bogus FDIC letter. The FDIC has urged affected banks to suggest that the compromised accounts be closed, and new accounts opened, quickly, to prevent attacks on the accounts by other means.
Making a change from one checking account to another, even in the same bank, can be a hassle, we know. It's no picnic for the bank, either. But if your banker calls to suggest you close your account to move it to another number, we suggest you follow up. The inconvenience could save you an even bigger problem if it prevents your account from being pillaged by a scam artist.
To help make the transfer from old to new account less stressful, "check out" our Checklist for Transferring Your Account.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 5/08/07
|
| |
|
Accounts
Article
Q&A
Podcast
Video
Blog
Discussions
PDF
Powerpoint
