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Alert 2012-6
Subject: Fraudulent Regulatory Agency Issuances
Date: February 22, 2012 Description: Fraudulent Correspondence Attributed to Officials of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Fraudulent Correspondence Regarding the Release of Funds Supposedly Under the Control of the Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyTo: Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks and Federal Savings Associations; 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 Counsels; and All Examining Personnel Fictitious correspondence, allegedly issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) regarding funds purportedly under the control of the OCC and other government entities, is in circulation. Correspondence may be distributed via e-mail, fax, or postal mail. Any document claiming that the OCC is involved in holding any funds for the benefit of any individual or entity is fraudulent. The OCC does not participate in the transfer of funds for, or on behalf of, individuals, business enterprises, or governmental entities. The letters may indicate that funds are being held by the OCC, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or the U.S. Department of Justice because of the need for payment of a 0.059 percent revenue charge to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Attached is a copy of this fraudulent correspondence, which is being sent to bank customers in an attempt to elicit funds from them and to gather personal information to be used in possible future identification theft. The correspondence in question contains forged signatures of actual OCC officials. In addition, the material contains a fictitious mailing address that is not associated with the OCC. Before responding in any manner to any proposal supposedly issued by the OCC that requests personal information or personal account information, or that requires the payment of any fee in connection with the proposal, you should take steps to verify that the proposal is legitimate. At a minimum, the OCC recommends that you
Any information regarding the subject of this or any other alert that you wish to bring to the attention of the OCC may be sent to occalertresponses@occ.treas.gov. Richard C. Stearns
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