Counterfeit official checks drawn on HomeStreet Bank, Seattle, Washington, are reportedly in circulation

HomeStreet Bank, Seattle, Washington, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit official checks bearing the institution's name are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the proper routing number of 122037171 for the processing of HomeStreet Bank official checks, which are issued by Integrated Payment Systems, Inc., Englewood, Colorado. The layout of the counterfeit items and the layout of authentic checks appear similar. However, the counterfeit items use the term "Remitter" and authentic checks use the term "Memo" in the lower-left portion of the check. Also, the security notice in the top border is different. A copy of a counterfeit item and a copy of an authentic official check (VOID) are attached for your review.

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

Carrie Brume
Assistant Vice President, Corporate Security Officer
HomeStreet Bank
601 Union Street, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
Telephone: (206) 389-7734
Fax: (206) 621-2557
carrie.brume@homestreet.com

Information about these instruments may be forwarded to the FDIC's Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4004, Washington, D.C. 20429, or transmitted electronically to alert@fdic.gov. Information related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at http://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp.

For your reference, FDIC Special Alerts may be accessed from the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2005/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Michael J. ZamorskiDirector
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection