Counterfeit cashier's checks drawn on Union Bank of California, National Association, San Francisco, California, are reportedly in circulation

Union Bank of California, National Association, San Francisco, California, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit checks bearing the institution's name are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display the routing number 121000497, which is assigned to Union Bank of California, National Association, San Francisco, California. The counterfeit items are markedly dissimilar to authentic checks. Authentic checks display a telephone number below the bank address, have a logo that appears to be a square box, and have a rectangular box surrounding the printed dollar amount. Authentic checks also have a protectograph feature following the arrows across the top portion of the check. Within this feature, the dollar amount of the check is displayed. The counterfeit items do not display a telephone number, nor do they have a box surrounding the printed dollar amount. In addition, the counterfeit items display a logo that is more rectangular in shape. While the counterfeit items display arrows across the top portion of the check, a protectograph feature is not included. Therefore, the dollar amount is not displayed to the right of the arrows. A copy of a counterfeit item and an authentic check (VOID) are attached for your review.

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

Debra Kaplan
Assistant Vice President - Risk Services
Union Bank of California, National Association
400 California Street 1-001-14
San Francisco, California 94104
Telephone: (415) 765-3426
Fax: (415) 765-3522
debra.kaplan@uboc.com

Information about counterfeit items, cyber-fraud incidents and other fraudulent activity 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.

Christopher J. SpothActing Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection