An official website of the United States government
Alert 2006-45 | August 23, 2006
Share This Page:
Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks; All State Banking Authorities; Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Director, Office of Thrift Supervision; Conference of State Bank Supervisors; Deputy Comptrollers (districts); Assistant Deputy Comptrollers; District Counsel; and All Examining Personnel
The above-named bank has reported that counterfeit cashier’s checks issued in the bank’s name and using a correct routing number of 082901826 are being presented for payment both locally and nationwide in connection with a lottery scam.
The counterfeit items contain the words “Arkansas National Bank, Bentonville, AR” in the top-center portion of the check, followed by a toll-free number of 1-888-239-1244, which is not associated with ANB Financial. The ANB logo is located in the top-left corner of the instrument, and the following phrase is contained within the top border:“The face of this document has a colored background on white paper.”The following security statement is located along the bottom border of the instrument: “The back of this document contains an artificial watermark – hold at an angle to view.” Checks presented to date have been made payable in the amounts of $3,500 and $4,875 and have used the checks numbers of 887490032, 69884701, and 5246132.They have been dated 7/25/2006 and 8/3/2006 and may show the remitter as Crown Locators Inc. or Shopping Group Inc.
Correspondence accompanying the counterfeit items contains the letterhead of “CROWN LOCATORS INC., Unclaimed Funds Resources and Payment Verification Center , Suite 1200 80 Queen Street, Kitchener, ON N2H6L4.The letters, which may be signed by either Brian Malden (Holder of Procuration) or Susan Wyatt (Accts. Manager), notify the recipient of their winning status and explain that the enclosed check is to assist with the processing fees that have accrued due to the funds being in an unclaimed status. Recipients are instructed to contact the Sweepstakes Agent at 1-519-694-1584 ext 200) immediately.
For additional information and guidance, please contact Cynthia White, Vice President/Compliance, ANB Financial N.A., 706 South Walton Boulevard, Bentonville, AR 72712, by telephone at (479) 878-3014, by fax at (479) 878-4314, or via email at [cwhite@anbfinancial.com].
Additional information concerning this matter that you believe should be brought to the attention of the OCC may be forwarded to:
Email: occalertresponses@occ.treas.gov Mail: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Special Supervision Division, MS 6-4 250 E Street, SW, Washington, DC 20219 Fax: (202) 874-5214 Internet: https://www.occ.gov
For additional information regarding other types of financial fraud, please visit the OCC's anti-fraud resource page.
/signed/
Gerard Sexton, Acting Director Enforcement & Compliance Division
