U.S. Bank issues warning to ignore hoax e-mails

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 20, 2004

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- U.S. Bank warned consumers on Monday to ignore e-mails that appeared to have been sent by the Minneapolis- based bank asking for account numbers and other confidential information.

The e-mail notifies receivers that their U.S. Bank accounts have been blocked because "we have been notified that your account may have been compromised by outside parties."

The letter goes on to say that "these parties have in the past been involved with money laundering, illegal drugs, terrorism."

U.S. Bank accounts have not been frozen or blocked, as the e-mail states, and receivers should not respond to its request to click on a Web link.

"We took immediate action to shut down the site. No account information has been compromised," U.S. Bank spokesman Steve Dale said on Monday. He had no details about the Web site.

U.S. Bank didn't know how widespread the e-mails are. The company has received inquiries about the e-mails from outside Minnesota, Dale said.

The bank believes that the e-mails started sometime Sunday, making their way into computer mailboxes of customers and others who don't even have an account with U.S. Bank, Dale said.

If anyone has responded to the e-mail, they should phone 1-800-US- BANKS and, following prompts, get in touch with U.S. Bank's "fraud liaison center" or its "Internet banking center," he said.