Index
Security Alerts
PLEASE NOTE:
Benchmark Community Bank will NEVER call a customer and request personal account information (account numbers, social security numbers, etc.) over the phone or by e-mail. We will always ask you to contact us at one of our published telephone numbers so that you can verify who you are contacting. NEVER give out your personal information unless you are absolutely sure of to whom you are giving this information.
September 1, 2011
Fraudulent "FDIC Notification" E-Mails with Attachment
E-mails with malware attachments that claim to be from the FDIC are reportedly in circulation.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that appear to be from the FDIC and contain an infected attachment. The fraudulent e-mails have addresses such as “no.reply@fdic.gov” or “notify84zma@fdic.gov” on the “From” line. The message appears, with spelling and grammatical errors, as follows:
Subject line:
“FDIC notification”
Message body:
“Dear customer,
Your account ACH and WIRE transaction have been temporarily suspended for security reasons due to the expiration of your security version. To download and install the newest installations read the document(pdf) attached below. As soon as it is setup, you transaction abilities will be fully restored.
Best Regards,
Online Security departament, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.”
The e-mails contain an attachment “FDIC_document.zip” that will likely release malicious software if opened. These e-mails and attachments are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider these e-mails an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, or to load malicious software onto end users’ computers. Recipients should NOT open the attachment.
Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that these fraudulent e-mails may be modified over time with other subject lines, sender names, and narratives. The FDIC does not directly contact consumers, nor does the FDIC request bank customers to install software upgrades.
Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents, and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC’s Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 3501 North Fairfax Drive, CH-11034, Arlington, Virginia 22226, 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.
Source: FDIC Special Alert 26-2011
June 3, 2011
Emails Fraudulently Claiming to Be from the FDIC
E-mails that claim to be from the FDIC are reportedly in circulation.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that have the appearance of being from the FDIC.
The e-mails appear to be sent from various "@fdic.gov" e-mail addresses, such as "subscriptions@fdic.gov," "alert@fdic.gov," or "accounts@fdic.gov." They have subject lines that read: "FDIC: Your business account" or "FDIC: About Your Business Account."
The e-mails are addressed to "Business Customer" or "Business Owner" and state "We have important information about your bank" or "…financial institution." They then ask recipients to "Please click here to find details." They conclude with, "This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership."
These e-mails and the link included are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider the intent of these e-mails as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, or to load malicious software onto end users' computers. Recipients should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mails and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this media.
Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that other subject lines and modifications to the e-mails may occur over time. The FDIC does not directly contact consumers in this manner nor does the FDIC request personal financial information from consumers.
For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2011/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
Source: FDIC Special Alert 20-2011
For more information on fraud prevention, visit Protect Your Privacy.
