The warning notice states that the two entities – Wachovia Direct Lending, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Equitable Finance & Securities, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (http://www.equitablesecurities.org) – are not authorized federally regulated financial institutions (Canadian) and may be involved in various advance fee or "Nigerian letter" scams (see also OSFI's Warning Notice No. 23, dated February 2002). These entities, or persons purported to represent them, are reportedly operating in Canada and may be violating provisions of the Bank Act (Canada) or other Canadian financial institution regulations. These entities may also be conducting unauthorized banking transactions in the United States. Any proposed transactions involving these entities should be viewed with extreme caution.

Each "Warning Notice," beginning with Issue No. 1 through OSFI's latest "Warning Notice," may be found at: http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/osfi/index_e.aspx?ArticleID=166.

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.

NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC Special Alerts may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200).