Common Scams
The FDIC issued a special alert because it became aware of emails that appear to have been sent from the
FDIC or VeriSign, Inc. and ask recipients to run a "security guard script" to secure websites. The emails
are purportedly from "FDIC Legal Information Technology," "FDIC Information Security,"
or "Verisign Inc." And the subject lines include the phrase "Regular Security Maintenance" or
"Regular Hosting Security Maintenance."
These emails are fraudulent and were not sent by the FDIC or VeriSign, Inc. Recipients should consider this
file to be a malicious attempt to collect personal or confidential information and should be reported to the
FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section at alert@fdic.gov.
The Texas Department of Banking (Department) has become aware of individuals(s) contacting consumers over
the telephone claiming to be employees of the Department. During the call the consumer is asked to verify
personal financial information as a matter of record. The Department does not directly contact consumers
in any manner (electronic, telephone, or otherwise), nor does the Department maintain personal financial
information for consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT under any circumstances provide
any personal financial information through this medium. Consumers and financial institutions should notify
the Department of any suspicious activity or similar attempts to obtain personal financial information at
consumer.complaints@banking.state.tx.us.
The OCC has been informed by the Committee on Financial Services of the U.S. House of Representatives that
fraudulent correspondence, including emails referring to the Committee and making use of the Committee's
letterhead is in circulation. The communications inform potential victims that they are due to receive large
sums of money from an inheritance, but they must first pay a large fee through lawyers to the Financial
Services Committee to verify that the funds are not tied to terrorist financing. The Financial Services
Committee does not require any person to obtain what the con-artists are calling a "Clean Bill of Record" for
receiving the money.
This is a "419" scam, named after Section 419 of the Nigerian Penal Code and is one of
the classic con artist schemes originating out of Nigeria offering to transfer large sums of money in exchange
for personal financial information.
Report Suspicious IRS eMail
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