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Fraudulent FDIC Emails Consumer Alert
The FDIC has issued a Consumer Alert concerning fraudulent emails that appear to have been sent from Donald E. Powell, Chairman Emeritus FDIC; John D. Hawke, Jr., Comptroller of the Currency; and Michael E. Bartell, Chief Information Officer, FDIC. The subject line of the e-mails reads: “Account Insurance from FDIC” or “FDIC Insurance” and tells recipients that their “account has been denied insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation due to suspected violations of the Patriot Act.” Recipients are asked to click on a link to verify personal information which will be checked against a federal government database for identity verification. Of course the link is fraudulent, either divulging the personal information to criminals or loading malware on the victim's computer.