Counterfeit State of Florida warrants (checks) are reportedly in circulation

The State of Florida has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit warrants (checks) are in circulation. These warrants have "State of Florida, Department of Financial Services" imprinted near the top and display the round state seal of Florida in the upper-left corner. A State Wide Document Number (SWDN) is located in the top middle and, to date, the counterfeit items have displayed "H4000112182" as the SWDN. The counterfeit items also display a MICR encoded line, beginning with "4." The wording "Chief Financial Officer" appears beneath the signature line.

Financial institutions and consumers who receive a State of Florida warrant under suspicious circumstances or receive a State of Florida warrant with the characteristics described above should contact Mary Garvin on (850) 413-3379 or Debra Ferstler on (850) 413-3333 at the Florida Treasury.

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 website at www.fdic.gov/news/news/SpecialAlert/2006/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Sandra L. ThompsonActing Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection