E-mail scam seeks your bank information

Iowa’s financial industry put out an urgent alert Friday afternoon. Ben Hildebrandt is spokesman for the Iowa Bankers Association and says a phony e-mail is trying to rip off bank customers. They’re apparently claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, saying you must send your account numbers and other information to them, or risk not being covered by FDIC insurance at your bank. Hildebrandt says that’s just not true. The unsolicited “spam” e-mail apparently went out late in the week to thousands of people, demanding that they type in their account information and personal data and return it to the sender of the e-mail, supposedly to “confirm” it. The worst thing that could happen, he says, is that that personal information could be used to take all the money out of your account. Hildebrandt says if you get any kind of message by e-mail, mail, phone or other messaging medium, check it out with your own banker. He says check with someone you trust to get information about this scam or anything you question — and he reiterates, no bank, business or government agency would ask for personal information in this way. You can also check out the way banks and genuine institutions do business by visiting www.fdic.gov