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Alert 2008-43 | October 30, 2008
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Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks; All State Banking Authorities; Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Conference of State Bank Supervisors; Deputy Comptrollers (districts); Assistant Deputy Comptrollers; District Counsel; and All Examining Personnel
The above-named bank has reported that counterfeit cashier’s checks issued in the bank’s name and using a correct routing number of 122238420 are being presented for payment nationwide in connection with a lottery scam.
The counterfeit checks bear little resemblance to the authentic items and may be identified by the following: the instruments are of unknown color, contain a “Notice to Customers” statement in the top-center portion of the item under the words “CASHIER’S CHECK.” The following security statement appears in the top border: “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SECURITY FEATURES. SEE REVERSE.”
Items presented to date have included the name of “Luz M. Maldonado” as the remitter and have been made payable in the amount of $3,985. Additionally, the checks are missing the bank’s telephone number of (800) 942-6222.
The prize award winner notification correspondence accompanying the checks may contain the letterhead of “Equifinance Int. Group, 645 Howe Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C2Y9.” The recipient is informed of his or her winning status of a large dollar amount in the “North American Sweepstakes Lottery” and is instructed to contact Stan Johnson at 1-866-371-4342, Ext 84. The letter states that the enclosed check is to be used to pay for the applicable underwriter charges and nonresident tax on the winnings. The letter may be signed by Dr. Kathy Stanton, Promotion Manager.
Due to possible variations in the appearance of the bank’s official items and differing scams associated with the counterfeit or fictitious items, officials of Rabobank, N.A., recommend that any recipient who receives any of the bank’s official items from an unknown or questionable source should contact the bank to verify the item’s authenticity.
For additional information and guidance, please contact Jon Machado, Vice President, Operational Risk/Security & Fraud, P.O. Box 6002, Arroyo Grande, CA 93421, by telephone at (805) 474-6805, or via email at [Jon.Machado@Rabobank.com].
Consumers who receive counterfeit or fictitious items and associated material should file complaints with the following agencies, as appropriate:
Additional information concerning this matter that should be brought to the attention of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) may be forwarded to
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Special Supervision Division 400 7th St. SW, Suite 3E-218; MS 8E-12 Washington, DC 20219 Phone: (202) 649-6450 Fax: (571) 293-4925 www.occ.gov occalertresponses@occ.treas.gov
For additional information regarding other types of financial fraud, please visit the OCC's anti-fraud resources page.
/signed/
Richard C. Stearns Director for Enforcement & Compliance
