RBC Centura Bank, Raleigh, North Carolina, 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 are reportedly associated with a Canadian lottery scam and are included with correspondence with the letterhead of "Citi Mutual Group, 6779 Miller St, London, Ontario, Canada."

The counterfeit items display the routing number 044015543, which is assigned to Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio. RBC Centura Bank issues official checks through Travelers Express Company, Inc., which uses a payable-through account at Huntington National Bank. The counterfeit items are markedly dissimilar to authentic official checks and display a gold foil hologram in the lower portion. The counterfeit items also display the security statement "THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS SECURITY FEATURES–SEE REVERSE" embedded within a darkened green and yellow top border. The bank's name and "CITY/BRANCH 093/001, CANTON, NC" appear in the top-left corner. The counterfeit items are light green with a marbled background.

Authentic official checks are blue with ornate scroll borders on the top and sides. The words "OFFICIAL CHECK" appear inside a grey rectangle centered between the following security statements displayed below the top border: "THIS DOCUMENT HAS AN ARTIFICIAL WATERMARK PRINTED ON THE BANK. THE FRONT OF THE DOCUMENT HAS A MICRO-PRINT SIGNATURE LINE AND BORDER. ABSENCE OF THESE FEATURES WILL INDICATE A COPY." The statement "THE VARIABLE TONE BACKGROUND AREA OF THIS DOCUMENT CHANGES COLOR GRADUALLY AND SMOOTHLY FROM DARKER TONES AT THE TOP TO THE LIGHTEST TONE AT THE BOTTOM" is embedded within a dark blue bottom border. A pink heat-sensitive octagon with "RUB HERE" printed above and "COLOR FADES WITH HEAT" below is in the top-right corner. Two signature lines and the statement "TWO SIGNATURES REQUIRED FOR AMOUNTS OF $10,000.00 OR MORE" appear in the lower-right corner. Along the bottom on the left side are the statement "Issued By: Travelers Express Company, Inc., P.O. Box 9475, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55480" and the phrase "Drawee: Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio."

Copies of a counterfeit item and an authentic check (VOID) are attached for your review. Be aware that the appearance of counterfeit items can be modified and that additional variations may be presented.

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

Kim H. Gravely
Fraud Investigations Manager
RBC Centura Bank
1625 Centura Highway, Building 6
Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
Telephone: (252) 454-3978
Fax: (252) 454-2391
E-mail: Kim.gravely@rbc.com

To report this scam or any other scam based in or mailed from Canada, please contact Phonebusters, which is a joint partnership between the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Phonebusters is interested in receiving copies of scam letters, particularly those involving Canadian mailing addresses or telephone numbers. Records relating to the payment of advance fees should also be forwarded to Phonebusters. This information is used to assist in the strategic targeting of would-be fraudsters. Scam letters should be forwarded to the Phonebusters National Call Center (PNCC) as follows:

Mail:	Box 686 North Bay, Ontario, Canada P1B 8J8
Web site:	www.phonebusters.com
Telephone:	+1 (888) 495-8501 (toll-free in Canada and the USA)
Fax:	+1 (888) 654-9426 (toll-free in Canada and the USA)
E-mail:	info@phonebusters.com
Advance fee fraud (including Nigerian and lottery letters): wafl@phonebusters.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. Questions 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/2007/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 electronic images of fraudulent items or authentic checks that have been counterfeited. This is to avoid attempts by others to use these instruments to facilitate additional fraud. Financial institutions can view images of the fraudulent items and authentic checks (marked as VOID) using the FDIC's free, secure Web site, FDICconnect. (See more information about FDICconnect at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2006/fil06032.html.) Printed copies of each Special Alert and its attachment(s) may also be obtained from the FDIC's Public Information Center (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)