Carolina First Bank, Greenville, South Carolina, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit checks bearing the bank's name are in circulation. The counterfeit items are associated with a lottery scam and are accompanied by a letter purportedly sent by the "Bonanza 2000 Australian International Lotto," which is being mailed from Canada.

The counterfeit items include the routing number 053902197, which is assigned to Carolina First Bank, and are similar to authentic checks. On the counterfeit items, "THE SOUTH | FINANCIAL GROUP" is displayed on two lines in the top-left corner and is followed by "CAROLINA FIRST BANK, A Subsidiary of The SouthFinancial Group," which has no space between the words "South" and "Financial." A toll-free telephone number, which is not associated with the bank, is shown beneath the bank address.

Authentic checks display "THE SOUTH | FINANCIAL GROUP" on two lines in the top-left corner, followed by "CAROLINA FIRST BANK, A Subsidiary of The South Financial Group," which has a space between the words "South" and "Financial." Authentic checks do not display a telephone number.

A copy of the counterfeit item and a copy of an authentic check (VOID) are attached for your review.

Any information you have concerning this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Stefani Cudic
Corporate Investigations
The South Financial Group
104 S. Main Street
Greenville, South Carolina 29601
Telephone: (864) 421-1348
Fax: (864) 241-1565
E-mail: stefani.cudic@thesouthgroup.com

To report this scam or any other scam based in or mailed from Canada, please contact Phonebusters, which is a joint partnership between the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Phonebusters is interested in receiving copies of scam letters, particularly those involving Canadian mailing addresses or telephone numbers. Records relating to the payment of advance fees should also be forwarded to Phonebusters. This information is used to assist in the strategic targeting of would-be fraudsters. Scam letters should be forwarded to the Phonebusters National Call Center (PNCC) as follows:

Mail:	Box 686 North Bay, Ontario, Canada P1B 8J8
Web site:	www.phonebusters.com
Telephone:	+1 (888) 495-8501 (toll-free in Canada and the USA)
Fax:	+1 (888) 654-9426 (toll-free in Canada and the USA)
E-mail:	info@phonebusters.com
Advance fee fraud (including Nigerian and lottery letters): wafl@phonebusters.com

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4004, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Information 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.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2006/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Attachment (not available electronically)

NOTE: As a security precaution, the FDIC does not post to its Web site electronic images of fraudulent items or authentic checks that have been counterfeited. This is to avoid attempts by others to use these instruments to facilitate additional fraud. Financial institutions can view images of the fraudulent items and authentic checks (marked as VOID) using the FDIC's free, secure Web site, FDICconnect. (See more information about FDICconnect at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2006/fil06032.html.) Printed copies of each Special Alert and its attachment(s) may also be obtained from the FDIC's Public Information Center (telephone: 1-877-275-3342 or 703-562-2200; fax: 703-562-2296; or e-mail: publicinfo@fdic.gov).

Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)