FDIC: Identity Thieves Sending Fake Emails Regarding Bank Failures

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued a warning to consumers that fraudulent emails have been circulating, clearly in an attempt for identity thieves to obtain consumers' personal identifying information.

The emails falsely inform consumers that their personal bank has failed and has been taken over by the FDIC, and instruct consumer to follow a fraudulent link that looks like it's the FDIC website.

The FDIC has received numerous reports on these suspicious emails that look like they are being sent by the FDIC. The subject line of the email states, "check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage."

The email goes on to tell the recipient, "You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account. Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets.”

The email tells the recipient to "visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage” (a fraudulent link is provided). It then instructs recipients to “download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage.”

The FDIC warns consumers that these emails and the associated web site are fraudulent, and are an attempt to trick the recipient into disclosing personal and banking information. The FDIC also says that they do not send unsolicited emails to consumers, and that financial institutions and consumers should NOT follow the link provided in the fraudulent email.


Source:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation