In July of 2009 and again in March of 2010 Bankers' Bank Northeast reported that several law offices in the Northeast have become victims of an international crime ring. Our International Money Desk Specialists have seen a resurgence in these check and wire fraud schemes as recent as this past week. These fraud schemes continue to be perpetrated on deposit accounts belonging to law firms (IOLTA accounts). The dollar amount associated with this fraudulent activity is in the $100,000 to $300,000 range. Please watch for this activity- especially large dollar wires sent to an overseas account by law offices.

Background:

The fraud starts with a potential commercial customer, who happens to be overseas, seeking legal help from litigation and collection attorneys, to collect on debts from their customer in the U.S. The attorneys are provided names, addresses and phone numbers of other U.S. customers as well as company websites appearing valid to help complete their due diligence process. The law firm is able to confirm that this new client is a major manufacturer in Europe or Asia. The attorney assumes that this is a legitimate collection case and works with the slow paying customer. The slow paying customer agrees to pay and provides a Cashiers Check to the attorney. The attorney then deposits the check at their financial institution. Shortly after the check is deposited the overseas customer calls the attorney stating they are in dire need of their funds. Assuming that the account has a sufficient and available balance, funds are wired overseas. It may take days, weeks and sometimes months before the Cashiers Check is returned as counterfeit or forgery. By the time the check is returned the conspirators have long disappeared along with the money. Due to legal fees, time zones, language differences, local banking laws and customs, the funds are not easily traced or even acknowledged as existing.

While this is one example of the typical fraud scheme there can be many variations. Perpetrating fraud is a full-time job whereby a lot of effort is spent in creating fictitious web pages, client lists, contact information, etc. to keep the fraud going. Once the group knows they have been detected or that their name is identified as fraudulent, they simply change the name and domain and continue using the same web page layout. They re-register names, company information and email addresses.

Click here if you are a victim of fraud.

Telephone Scam
August 21, 2010

Litchfield Bancorp has become aware of a new telephone scam.

Please be aware that criminals are making phone calls with bogus 'security alerts' that may warn that your credit card , bank accounts may have been compromised or that personal information needs to be updated.  These scammers may ask you to respond by 'confirming' or 'verifying' your account numbers. The sole purpose of these calls is to convince you to reveal your account numbers and passwords so that they can steal money from your bank accounts or make large purchases with your credit cards."

It is very important to remember that Litchfield Bancorp never asks for personal information through text message, email or by phone.

Learn More about "phishing" and other types of scams 

Fraudulent Email
August 11, 2010

Litchfield Bancorp has become aware of a new email scam being circulated to both customers and non-customers. It is important to note that fraudsters send these emails to a large list of random email addresses, hoping to reach a few Litchfield Bancorp customers.

The current fraudulent email displays an online form and states the following:

“Please confirm that you are the rightful owner of this account. Please fill out and submit the form below. This information is used for verification purposes only. We apologize for any inconvenience."

What to Watch For:

• Urgent Requests for Personal Information
• A Link to a Website in the Email
• Threats, Urgency, and Too-Good-to-Be-True Offers

It is very important to remember that Litchfield Bancorp never asks for personal information through text message, email or by phone. Litchfield Bancorp never provides a link to a website through email.

Learn More about "phishing" and other types of online scams