ScamSafe

What is FDIC-Insured?

Many consumers mistakenly assume that FDIC* insurance must protect them from a fraud or theft if the funds were taken from an insured account. But by law, deposit insurance only protects your accounts up to $250,000 (was $100,000) if your insured bank or savings institution fails.

*=Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Receiving strange or random checks

One of the "newest" and increasingly popular scams today is electronic check fraud. The Internet has made it much easier for these scams to happen.

If you EVER receive a check (either on paper or via email) that you didn't expect to receive, do NOT cash it.  Even if the bank says the check is legit and will clear. What do you do? Contact your local police or sheriff. 

Also, very important: NEVER give out your checking account and routing number to anyone. Even if they tell you they want to wire you money. If you're a business and you need to do wire transfers to operate, be absolutely sure you are working with someone you know and trust.

And if you ever receive a check, email or any correspondence that references "Qchex," please be very careful. We recommend that you assume anything with Qchex on it is a scam. The victim could be you or someone else (using you as the conduit).

I can't go into the details of how the scams work. But please--protect your checking account information as carefully as your social security number. And don't trust anyone asking you to cash checks on their behalf.

Food for thought. Why would someone send you a check for no reason? Or why would someone need you to cash checks for them (and give you a huge % to keep yourself). The answer is: no one legitimately would. And bear in mind...you could either 1) be a direct victim yourself or 2) help someone commit a felony--a Federal crime.