State Attorney's Office warns of e-mail scam

The State Attorney’s Office is warning e-mail users not to respond to a scam styled like a message from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that accuses bank account holders of violating the U.S. Patriot Act.

The e-mail, which looks like it comes from the FDIC, including the agency’s logo, states all insurance on the recipient’s bank accounts will be canceled because of the account holder’s suspected violations of the U.S. Patriot Act. The e-mail asks for personal identification information from the recipient so the coverage won’t be terminated, the State Attorney’s Office said.

“While we have only a limited amount of evidence gathered on your account at this time, it is enough to suspect that currency violations may have occurred in your account and due to this activity we have withdrawn Federal Deposit Insurance on your account until we verify that your account has not been used in a violation of the Patriot Act,” the phony message states.

State Attorney Steve Russell said the e-mail originates in Hungary and warned residents not to respond to the scam. Officials with the FDIC said Tuesday that they have received about 50 copies of the e-mail from concerned e-mail users.

If recipients don’t respond, they are threatened that all records of their account history will be sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Failure to provide proper identity may also result in a visit from local, state or federal government or (Department of) Homeland Security officials,” the e-mail warns.