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Alert 2017-2 | March 6, 2017
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Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks and Federal Savings Associations; All State Banking Authorities; Chair, 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 Counsels; and All Examining Personnel
The above-named bank has reported that at least three variations of counterfeit cashier’s checks using a correct routing number of 113111983 are being presented for payment nationwide in connection with online job opportunity and auction scams.
The counterfeit checks do not resemble the bank’s authentic checks. Counterfeit items may be identified by the following traits:
Variation No. 1
Variation No. 2
Variation No. 3
Counterfeit checks presented to date have been made payable in varying amounts and display the bank’s name with a space between “Community” and “Bank.” All checks contain a remitter name of Kellie Ellie Fowler and an authorized signature of Tamara Norris.
Potential victims of the job opportunity scam may be initially contacted by email by either Jennifer Kinley with an email address of [tisainas@gmail.com] or Keith Farrell with an email address of [imtinssurance@gmail.com]. Both individuals are using the same telephone number of (832) 413-1639 for text messaging purposes. Once the potential victim agrees to the job opportunity, he or she will receive a counterfeit check in the mail with instructions to deposit the check into his or her bank account, wait 24 hours, and then wire a significant portion of the funds to a third party.
Potential victims of the online auction scam may be contacted by an individual using the name of Barrack Smith and providing an on-line auction email address of [019ced5fc82f3880b47ab6db08134b10@reply.craigslist.org]. Potential victims are contacted about items posted for sale. Once an agreed-upon price has been set, the potential victim will receive an overpayment amount in the form of a counterfeit check. He or she is then instructed to deposit the check into his or her bank account, wait 24 hours, and then wire the overpayment amount to a third party.
Checks may take up to ten days to go through the clearing process. In both of the above-described cases, by the time the check is deemed to be counterfeit, the victims have already wired the funds to an untraceable third party. The victims are then in a position of refunding their financial institutions for the incurred loss.
For additional information and to verify the authenticity of cashier’s checks drawn on CommunityBank of Texas, National Association, please contact Bryan Hollier, Assistant Vice President, Security, by mail at 5999 Delaware Street, Beaumont, TX 77706; by telephone at (409) 861-7413; by fax at (409) 861-7415; or by email at bhollier@cbotx.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.
Monica A. Freas Acting Director for Enforcement and Compliance
