Special AlertSA-331-2006
December 6, 2006
TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (also of interest to Security Officer)
SUBJECT: CanadaBank May Be Conducting Banking Operations in Canada or the United States without Authorization
Summary: The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) of Canada has identified CanadaBank as an entity that may be illegally operating as a financial institution.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) of Canada has published the attached "Warning Notice" (Issue No. 73) containing the name CanadaBank, which has been recently brought to OSFI's attention. Warning Notice Issue No. 73 states that the name listed is not an authorized, federally regulated financial institution (Canadian) and may be involved in advance fee scams (see also OSFI's Warning Notice No. 23, dated February 2002). This entity, or persons purported to represent the entity, is not insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC). Any proposed transactions involving this entity should be viewed with extreme caution.
The following information about CanadaBank is provided in Warning Notice No. 73:
CanadaBank
235 Roosevelt Cres.
North Vancouver, British Columbia
V7P 1M3
Telephone Number: 1-206-666-2370
Web address: www.canadabank.net, which appears to be hosted in Panama.
Each "Warning Notice, " beginning with Issue No. 1 through OSFI's latest "Warning Notice, " may be found at www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/osfi/index_e.aspx?ArticleID=166.
To report any 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.
Information related to federal deposit insurance or consumer issues should be submitted to the FDIC using an online form that can be accessed at 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/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. Thompson
Director
Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection