Fraudulent E-Mails Claiming to Be From the FDIC

June 3, 2011

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that have the appearance of being from the FDIC.

The e-mails appear to be sent from various “@fdic.gov” e-mail addresses, such as “subscriptions@fdic.gov,” “alert@fdic.gov,” or “accounts@fdic.gov.”

They have subject lines that read: “FDIC: Your business account” or “FDIC: About Your Business Account.”

The e-mails are addressed to “Business Customer” or “Business Owner” and state “We have important information about your bank” or “…financial institution.” They then ask recipients to “Please click here to find details.”

They conclude with, “This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected, and how vendors can file claims against the receivership.”

These e-mails and the link included are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider the intent of these e-mails as an attempt to collect personal or confidential information, or to load malicious software onto end users’ computers. Recipients should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mails and should NOT, under any circumstances, provide any personal financial information through this media.

The FDIC does not directly contact consumers in this manner nor does the FDIC request financial information from consumers. 

Visit the FDIC at www.fdic.gov for more information.