Some customers may have already received or may soon receive a hoax e-mail communication claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security. The fake or hoax e-mail continues by warning the customer that his/her account has been denied federal deposit insurance coverage by the FDIC as a result of Patriot Act violations. As you may recall the Patriot Act established a set of guidelines for financial and other businesses to confirm the identity of their customers as part of the anti-terrorist, anti-money laundering effort.

Additionally, the e-mail further asks the customer to verify his or her identity by clicking on “IDVerify”. The web address for this “verification” appears to be the FDIC, but it is not. We understand that the website for “IDVerify” has been disabled, but we feel this information is so important that we wanted you to be aware of such an elaborate identity theft scheme.

The e-mail goes on to state that failure to use “IDVerify” will result in the termination of the customer’s insurance for his or her accounts, and that all account records will be sent to the FBI. The e-mail fraudulently reflects that it is coming from FDIC Chairman Donald E. Powell and Comptroller of the Currency John D. Hawke.

If you would be contacted in this manner, do not respond or attempt to go to the web site link. The FDIC has issued an announcement confirming that they did not send the communication and that customers’ accounts continue to be covered up to the maximum allowable amount by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC announcement is posted on their website at www.FDIC.gov.