FDIC warns of email scam bearing its name

As a community that has seen a lot of banks taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., we might be more susceptible to a scam about the FDIC than consumers in some other areas.

At any rate, you should know that the FDIC has issued an alert on fraudulent emails intended to prey on the fear that surrounds a bank takeover.

“The email appears to be sent from ‘alert@fdic.gov[‘] and includes a subject line that states: ‘FDIC: Your business account,'” the regulator warned.

The email is intended to convince you to click on a link that it says has “important information about your financial institution … This includes information on the acquiring bank (if applicable), how your accounts and loans are affected and how vendors can file claims against the receivership.”

The alert says the email has taken several different forms in recent days, but the FDIC notes that it doesn’t send emails to consumers or businesses, so anything you get like that will be fraudulent.

The assumption is that scammers want you to go to the link and leave personal or business bank account information that can be used to steal your money.

Don’t click on the link and, of course, never provide personal banking information over the Internet.

The FDIC is the agency that insures banks — hence the takeovers if it believes a bank doesn’t have the appropriate amount of assets to protect your accounts. It insures up to $250,000 per depositor per bank in the event of a failure.

What’s insured: checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit and retirement accounts.

What’s not insured (even if purchased from a bank): investments in mutual funds, annuities, stocks and municipal bonds, Treasury securities, savings bonds and the contents of safe deposit boxes.

Fisherman’s tribute

I spelled Kevin Pettelle’s name wrong in my column last week. Not only did I fail to spell it correctly in several tries, but I included two different incorrect versions in the one column.

Pettelle is the Sultan sculptor for the Fisherman’s tribute statue that will be unveiled at the Port of Everett at 4:30 p.m. June 23 at the port’s Waterfront Center at 1205 Craftsman Way.

The bronze was finished by an Oregon company and installed on its pedestal last week.

It’s also been covered with shrink wrap to maintain the mystery until the unveiling.

Despite the fact he can’t trust me to spell his name correctly, Pettelle did trust me with a sneak preview of the statue.

It looks very nice.

Last week, I included an early version of the fisherman’s head, basically the mold that was cast in bronze for the statue. This week, I have a look at the foot.

Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@herldnet.com.