Each depositor insured to at least $250,000 per insured bank

The Provident Bank, Jersey City, New Jersey, has contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to report that counterfeit cashier's checks and money orders bearing the institution's routing number are in circulation.

The counterfeit items display The Provident Bank's routing number of 221272303; however, the fraudulent instruments are markedly dissimilar to authentic bank cashier's checks and money orders. The counterfeit items display the name of Provident Savings Bank and do not include the bank's trademark name or appropriate address in Jersey City, New Jersey. Authentic items are printed on a blue-green colored background with a black border. Copies of the counterfeit items and authentic bank instruments (VOID) are attached for your review.

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

John Jansky
Corporate Security Officer
The Provident Bank
830 Bergen Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Telephone: (201) 915-5450
Fax: (201) 915-5349
John.Jansky@providentnj.com

Information about these instruments may be forwarded to the FDIC's Special Activities Section, 550 17th Street, N.W., Room F-4040, 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/2004/index.html. To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Special Alerts through e-mail, please visit www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Attachment: (not available electronically)

NOTE: As a security precaution, the FDIC does not post to its Web site online copies of fraudulent instruments or copies of the genuine instruments that have been counterfeited. This is to avoid attempts by others to use the electronic versions of these instruments to facilitate additional fraud. Printed copies of fraudulent instruments are mailed with the Special Alert letter to the financial institutions on the letter's distribution list (generally, FDIC-supervised banks - commercial and savings). Printed copies of the Special Alert and its attachment(s) may also be obtained from the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (telephone: 1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200; fax: (703) 562-2296; or e-mail: publicinfo@fdic.gov).

Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)