IMPORTANT NOTICE: Links to non-Wolverine Bank websites contained on this page are offered only as pointers to sources of information on subjects that may be of interest to users of our website, and Wolverine Bank is not responsible for the content of such sites as we have no control over what is displayed there. Wolverine Bank does not guarantee authenticity of documents at such sites and links to non-Wolverine Bank sites do not imply any endorsement or responsibility for the ideas, opinions, information, products, or services offered at such sites. Use of links to a non-Wolverine Bank site is solely at the user's own risk.
- 03-18-08 Advance Fee Loan Scams
- 02-01-08 Telephone Fraud
- 11-02-07 Subprime Mortgage Q&A
- 09-10-07 Compromised Accounts
- 07-27-07 Jury Duty Scam
- 07-03-07 Fraudulent Correspondence Claiming to Be From the FDIC
- 05-25-07 Fake Check Scam Information
- 11-29-06 Wolverine Bank Spam Alert
- 06-21-05 NYCE Phishing Alerts
- 02-01-05 FDIC Alert on Phishing
Advance Fee Loan Scams - March 18, 2008
Summary: Fraudulent loan offers that may claim to be from federally insured financial institutions are being widely distributed by unsolicited e-mail over the Internet.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is reminding consumers and financial institutions to be aware of advance fee loan scams. The FDIC has observed a significant increase in the number of unsolicited e-mails ("spam") advertising mortgage refinancing, debt consolidation and elimination, small business loans, and special loan programs for veterans and minorities. While some of these e-mails may advertise legitimate loan programs and lenders, advance fee loan scams are becoming more prevalent.
Advance fee loan scams prey on consumers who may be under financial duress and may be seeking quick and easy loan approval and funding. The scam typically involves the lender making false promises to arrange for a loan in return for fees paid upfront by the loan applicant. Scam artists may even design Web sites and online loan applications giving the appearance that the company is legitimate.
Fraudulent logos and letterhead of legitimate financial institutions or government agencies may also appear on documents that are faxed to the loan applicant. Potential borrowers may be asked to provide information through a Web site or be contacted by phone or e-mail by a "representative" who guarantees loan approval as soon as the borrower pays a required fee. The loan applicant may be told that the fees will be used to pay a third party for loan insurance or application processing, or to make the first month's loan payment. The loan applicant may also be told to send or wire transfer money to an individual overseas before receiving the loan proceeds.
In some cases, the loan applicant has been falsely directed to a legitimate financial institution with no knowledge of the transaction. In other cases, the loan applicant is told that the loan request was declined and is asked to forward additional money to qualify for a different loan program.
The following are warning signs that may indicate a loan offer is not legitimate:
- The loan approval is "guaranteed." Lenders do not typically guarantee loans before analyzing the applicant's financial condition, credit history and ability to repay.
- The loan applicant is required to pay upfront fees to a third party or individual. Loan fees are normally paid to a business after the loan has been approved.
- The lender or loan processor may be located outside of the United States.
- Fees are requested using a retail wire transfer system. A password is sometimes used by the overseas receiver to pick up the funds in an attempt to hide the true identity of the criminals and make funds more difficult to trace.
Victims of online advance loan fee scams should report the crimes to the Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/. More information about fraudulent advance loan fee scams can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/loans.shtm.
For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2008/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.
Sandra L. Thompson
Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection
Note: Paper copies of FDIC Special Alerts may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 877-275-3342 or 703-562-2200.
Telephone Fraud - February 02, 2008
Wolverine Bank recently learned of telephone fraud scam where indivduals reported receiving a call from a person claiming to be from the Federal Government Department of Human Services. The caller was male. He stated that because the recipient was an upstanding citizen, with no prior criminal history, the government had decided to give them $300.00 per month for the next 3 months. This was contingent upon the recipient providing the caller with their bank account information in order for the caller to make further contact and assure the recipient would ure that we would be able to accept the deposits.
Wolverine Bank recently learned of a phishing scam that has resulted in confirmed fraud. The reported cases have involved a fraudulent email that appeared to be sent from the cardholder's financial institution that instructs the recipient to complete a survey to receive $50.00.
Upon completing the survey, a transaction, typically exceeding $1,000.00, was submitted from WESTERNUNION.COM to the cardholder's account. The initial transaction was denied; however, a subsequent attempt typically ranging from $200.00 to $800.00 was approved. In addition, the criminals may have other personal information about the cardholders and have fraudulently enrolled them in Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode, as evidenced by $1.00 authorized transactions.
Please be sure to review card activity and report any suspected fraud to Wolverine Bank. Remember that Wolverine Bank will never request financial information over the phone or email. No Wolverine Bank accounts have been affected by this.
Information on the Jury Duty Scam is available here.
Fraudulent Correspondence Claiming to Be From the FDIC
Fraudulent correspondence bearing the FDIC's name continues to be mailed, faxed and e-mailed. This correspondence is being used in illegal schemes to collect sensitive personal information, such as bank account numbers, and to steal money and other assets.
Further information is available here.
Information on fake check scams is available in this PDF.
Wolverine Bank has noticed spam messages have started circulating that claim to originate from the wolverinebank.com domain. Please be aware that Wolverine Bank would not spam its customers or sell your email address to spammers.
NYCE has issued two alerts regarding a phishing attempts using their name. Please take a moment to read the official information from NYCE (First Notice - Second Notice). If you are contacted by NYCE regarding any account information, please call Wolverine Bank at (989) 631-4280.
FDIC ISSUES SPECIAL ALERT ON "PHISHING"
The FDIC has issued a special alert to insured banks on a widespread "phishing" e-mail scam that directs bank customers to what looks like the FDIC's authentic webpage. Persons are asked to provide sensitive financial and personal information. The alert is available at www.fdic.gov.
Protect Your Wolverine Bank Account
Use the following tips to protect your Wolverine Bank account:
- Safely access the Wolverine Bank website or your Wolverine Bank account by opening up a new web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape) and type in the following: http://www.wolverinebank.com/online-banking.html.
- Never give out the following information in an email:
· First name, last name, business name
· Email and password combination
· Credit card, bank account, and PIN
· Social security and driver's license number - Do not download attachments, software updates, or any application to your computer via a link you received in an email. Wolverine Bank will not ask you to download anything for your account to work.
- Chose a unique password and change it every 30-60 days.
A rapidly growing form of Internet fraud is a practice known as "phishing." The purpose of this is to familiarize you with the characteristics of phishing.
Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent email messages to addresses requesting them to supply confidential information. The message is most often mass-mailed or "spammed" to thousands of potential victims. The email is disguised to look like a request from a legitimate organization such as a bank or credit card company with which recipients may already have a business relationship. Messages purporting to be from eBay or PayPal are also very common. Often the message includes a warning regarding a problem related to the recipient's account and requests the recipient to respond by providing specific confidential information. The format of this email typically includes proprietary logos and branding, a "From" line disguised to appear as if the message came from a legitimate sender, and a link to a website or an email address. All of these features are designed to assure the recipient that the email is from a legitimate business source when in fact, the information submitted will be sent to the perpetrator.
Victims may be directed to provide personal account information by responding to the email, or they may be directed to click on a link that takes them to a legitimate looking webpage containing a form on which they are instructed to provide the information. Typically, the information requested includes items such as account numbers, passwords, PINs, Social Security numbers or other personal identifying information that will allow the perpetrator to gain access to the victim's accounts, steal the victim's identity, sell the information to others seeking to do the same, or all of these.
What Can You Do?
- Read the above information closely and fully understand the impact on yourself.
- Do no reply or click on links in emails such as described above. Instead, contact the company using a website address you KNOW to be genuine.
- Avoid emailing personal and financial information.
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive them for unauthorized activity. Better yet, use any form of online banking to keep up-to-date on your accounts more frequently than monthly.
- Use virus protection software at home and make sure it is automatically kept up-to-date.
- Use a hardware or software-based firewall at home, and make sure it is automatically kept up-to-date.
- Use a spyware detection tool at home, and keep it up to date.
- Don't open unknown email attachments EVER.
- Don't run programs of unknown origin.
- Make regular backups of critical data.
- Keep all applications (including your operating system) patched.
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