Hillcrest Bank, Overland Park, Kansas, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit cashier's checks bearing the institution's name are in circulation. The counterfeit items are reportedly associated with a lottery scam and are included with a letter from "Celebration Lotto Management Inc, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands." The letter informs the recipient of the "Award Claim Final Notification" and instructs the recipient to deposit the enclosed check "into your bank account immediately to pay for your processing fees and international taxes...." The recipient is also instructed to contact the claim agent at "1-902-412-3169."

The counterfeit items display the routing number 101002949, which is assigned to Hillcrest Bank, and are very similar to authentic cashier's checks. However, authentic checks display the bank's telephone number next to the mailing address in the top-center portion and a dollar sign ("$") in front of the numerically printed dollar amount. In addition, authentic checks display a lock symbol on the right edge of the check; the counterfeit items display a lock symbol to the right of the signature line.

Copies of a counterfeit item and an authentic check (VOID) are attached for your review. Be aware that the appearance of counterfeit items can be modified and that additional variations may be presented.

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

Lucy A. Jones
Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
Hillcrest Bank
11111 W 95th St
Overland Park, KS 66214
Telephone: (913)324-6125
Fax: (913)492-2775
Email: ljones@hillcrestbank.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 website 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)