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NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST Going Paperless Has Environmental Appeal More customers should consider online bill payment for its environmentally friendly impact, in addition to its speed and convenience. Estimates show that solid waste flowing into U.S. landfills would be reduced by more than 800,000 tons a year if every American household viewed and paid bills online. Universal online payments adoption could save more than 18 million trees a year and annually cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 million tons (ICBA, May 2007). Better
Business Bureau Senior Alert New
'Drive-by Pharming' Threat Identified Symantec Corp. and
the Indiana School of Informatics disclosed
2-23-2007 Alert:
Lottery Scam With Fraudulent Clorox Checks Targets
Consumers OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 6, 2007 - The Clorox
Company (NYSE: CLX) today issued a warning about a
lottery scam targeting consumers throughout the United
States. Victims of the scam report receiving a letter
from the International Clearing Commission House in
Ottawa, Ontario, that claims they have won a large cash
prize in the American Lottery Sweepstakes. The letter is
accompanied by a fraudulent check in the name of The
Clorox Company to cover lottery fees that the consumer
is instructed to pay by mailing the organization a
personal check in order to obtain their winnings.
Victims are advised that they will receive their
winnings by certified cashier check within 24 hours
after the fees are paid. Clorox has no connection to the
International Clearing Commission House or American
Lottery Sweepstakes, and is no way involved with
any promotion resembling this scam. Better Business Bureau E-LERT WARNING! We are seeing a proliferation of Web sites that are impersonating legitimate lenders to steal money from business owners and consumers. Victims across the U.S. and Canada report losing money, often more than $1,000 each, when applying for loans. The Web sites promise loans to anyone, regardless of the person's previous credit history. Victims used Internet search engines to locate lenders that "guaranteed" low-interest rate loans for people with bad credit histories. After submitting the online loan application, they were contacted by a company "representative" who said they were approved. Before they can receive their loan funds, however, they must first pre-pay a fee. The loan applicant is told to wire the money or send a money order, usually to a location in Canada. The consumer never receives the loan and cannot recover their money. They also risk having their identity stolen if they provided their Social Security numbers, bank account numbers or other sensitive information Intrest (sic) Plus Financial used a Milwaukee address that was home to a legitimate company, not affiliated with the scam lender. Statewide Capital Group, falsely claimed to be located in Omaha, and presented a sophisticated Web site offering a variety of lending services at low rates. Lloyds Financial Group used a false street address in East Peoria. Its Web site promised debt consolidation, personal loans and business loans "regardless of the person's previous credit history." Home Guard Funding Ltd. (a.k.a. Principal Investments) used a name similar to that of a legitimate Canadian mortgage broker and an address belonging to a Zion, IL law firm that had no connection to the lender. City Financial Corp. (a.k.a. PeachState Financial Services) fraudulently claimed the BBB of Central Georgia's address in Macon as its own. Advance fee loan scams are illegal in the U.S. and Canada! To avoid law detection, fraudulent loan operators move quickly, frequently reopening under new names. DO NOT wire money or send a money order to secure a personal loan. Legitimate offers of credit DO NOT require an up-front payment of a fee for collateral, processing, insurance, taxes or any other purpose. DO NOT do business with lenders that "guarantee" a loan before you apply. DO NOT do business with Web sites that refuse to provide a street address and a working telephone number. DO use the BBB to check if a Web site can be trusted. In addition to informing you of any complaints, BBB staff can visit the business location and conduct other research to verify a site's legitimacy. If the site has a BBBOnLine seal, DO click on it to check the BBB's report. If you are
victimized by an advance fee lender, DO file a complaint
with the BBB. While the chance of recovering the
payment fee is minimal, your experience will help BBBs
warn other consumers and assist government
investigations. Consumer Alert The FDIC is aware of a phishing e-mail that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The name "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation" appears on the "From" line and the subject is, "IMPORTANT: Notification of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation." This e-mail claims that the FDIC has received an application from the receipt's bank to insure their checking or savings account against fraud, phishing and identity theft. The e-mail further instructs the recipient to enroll in "the FDIC protection system" by clicking on a link to a spoofed FDIC Web page. The spoofed Web page requests the following information: First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, Social Security Number, Mother's Maiden Name, Driver License/Issued State, Date of Birth, E-mail Address, Street Address, City, State, Zip/Postal Code, Name on Credit Card, Credit/Debit/ATM Card Number, Card Expiration Date, Card Verification Number, Personal Identification Number, FDIC-Insured Institution (Bank Name), Bank Routing Number, and Bank Account Number. This e-mail was not sent by the FDIC and is a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal information from consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media. The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the e-mails and the location of the Web site in order to disrupt the transmission. Until this is achieved, consumers are asked to report any similar attempts to obtain this information to the FDIC by sending information to alert@fdic.gov
Phishing
Spam e-mails appear to
be coming from Fifth Third Bank asking for account
information -- these are a phishing scam prompting
the user to click into a site and give personal
information. Banks DO NOT e-mail asking for account
information, please disregard! This was provided
from the Better Business Bureau of Northwest Ohio
and Southeast Michigan, Inc.
PIN-Block Schemes Halt Transactions
Some banks
affected by recent PIN-block debit card scams
caused by third-party data breaches have halted
transactions. Thieves use the stolen debit card
information to create fake cards to withdraw
money from accounts through ATMs. Some experts
are advising consumers to take steps to protect
themselves, such as reducing the number of debit
and credit cards they hold; changing debit card
PINs regularly; limiting funds in debit card
accounts; and signing for transactions instead
of using a PIN. Consumers are also encouraged to
learn their bank's security policies.
Phone Scams
Increasing Around State
LANSING, Mich. —Michigan residents may fall
victim to financial fraud if they give personal
financial account information to unsolicited phone
callers, warned the MBA. Recently, several senior
citizens have been targeted and asked for their
account numbers by persons posing as bank
representatives.
“The Michigan Bankers Association wants the public
to know that banks and financial institutions
already have your personal financial information,
and they will never make phone calls asking
customers for something they already have,” said
Todd Willoughby, Vice President of Communications
for Michigan Bankers Association. “In fact, keeping
your financial and personal information secure and
confidential is one of our most important
responsibilities. That’s why we operate under a
detailed and rigorous information security policy.
Taking just a few easy precautions can help protect
your financial and personal information against
identity theft.”
Some of these precautions are: 1) Protect your
checking and other account information—only give
information to trusted sources; 2) Beware of phone
calls from someone claiming to call from your
bank—banks and other financial institutions don’t
make phone calls asking for account information; 3)
Guard your financial information carefully—store
both new and cancelled checks in a safe place; 4)
Keep your ATM pin number in a safe place—don’t write
personal identification numbers on your card and
never store your pin number in your purse or wallet;
5) Financial fraud is a crime—if you are solicited
for personal financial information call the police
and report it. Call your bank and alert them as
well.
The Michigan Bankers Association is an association
of Michigan financial institutions with over 2,300
branches located throughout the state with combined
assets of over $200 billion. It is the mission of
the MBA to advance a positive business environment
for the Michigan banking industry and to foster
safe, profitable, and successful banks, which in
turn promote strong communities and economic
activity in Michigan.
For more information on MBA visit
www.mibankers.com
1/13/06 Article Major banks and
credit card processing companies in Canada are
outfitting MasterCards with microchips to thwart
identity thieves. While offering custom rewards
programs to consumers, the new cards, due to be
introduced by 2010, will also encrypt
information and carry personal identification
numbers as extra security features. Source: Chips Are Down for Credit Cards
National Post (CAN) (12/22/05) P. FP5;
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