Counterfeit cashier's checks drawn on Baltimore Trust Company, Selbyville, Delaware, and First State Bank of California, Granada Hills, California, are in circulation 500 money orders issued by Bank of America, Dallas, Texas, has been reported stolen

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has learned that counterfeit cashier's checks drawn on Baltimore Trust Company, Selbyville, Delaware, are in circulation. These items bear the routing number 031100490. Attached for your information is a copy of one of the counterfeit instruments. Note that the name of the town of the bank's office has been misspelled.

Any information you have about this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Mr. Jorge L. Melendez
Assistant Vice President/Security
Baltimore Trust Company
One West Church Street
P.O. Box 470
Selbyville, DE 19975
Telephone: (302) 436-1316
(302) 436-1505

Counterfeit cashier's checks drawn on First State Bank of California, Granada Hills, California, also are in circulation. The items bear the routing number 857639870. Attached for your information is a copy of one of the counterfeit instruments.

Any information you have about this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Ms. Mary Fisher
Senior Vice President
First State Bank of California
10820 Zelzah Avenue
Granada Hills, CA 91344
Telephone: (818) 366-2188
Fax: (818) 366-4093

Financial institutions are encouraged to develop and implement procedures to reduce the risk of loss associated with this type of fraud.

In addition, a lot of 500 money orders, issued by Bank of America, Dallas, Texas, has been reported as stolen. The items bear the routing number 114000019 and are numbered 915100 through 915599. Attached for your information is a copy of one of the stolen instruments that was recently presented for payment.

Any information you have about this matter should be brought to the attention of:

Mr. Jim Grace
Corporate Investigations
Bank of America, NA
901 Main Street, 18th Floor
Dallas, TX 75202
Telephone: (214) 209-9097
Fax: (214) 209-9691

Information about these instruments also may be forwarded to the FDIC's Special Activities Section, 550 17th Street, NW, Room F-4040, Washington, DC 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov.

For your reference, FDIC Financial Institution Letters may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2002/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Financial Institution Letters through e-mail, please visit http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/announcement/index.html.

Michael J. Zamorski Director