1. Should individuals and businesses look out for fraudulent investment scams that misuse EmpactCapital’s name?

Yes, individuals and businesses should take care not to fall victim to investment scams, known as Advance Fee Fraud schemes. Some of these schemes misuse our name or falsely claim to be affiliated with the EmpactCapital Group.

Many scams, known as Advance Fee Fraud schemes, originate in Nigeria and are known as “Nigerian scams” or “4-1-9” letters after the section of the Nigerian penal code that deals with this type of fraud. Other fraud schemes have originated in Belarus, Ukraine, Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone.

Police estimate that thousands of these solicitations are sent by fax or email every week and are addressed to individuals and companies around the world. Only a very small fraction actually involves the use of the Bank’s name.

Recently, two new fraudulent schemes have surfaced in Eastern Europe and Asia. These involve solicitations to open a personal bank account at the Bank, which is not a retail bank and does not openly solicit banking clientele.

2. What forms do these fraudulent schemes take?

We’ve seen increased use of sophisticated forms and letterhead to send what appears to be legitimate EmpactCapital Group correspondence, as well as several schemes that reference the Bank.

Typically, the solicitations asked potential victims to provide personal information such as signatures or bank account information, and to pay certain advance fees, often described as “processing fees.” In return, the potential victim was promised sums of money that the person soliciting the “fees” had no intention of paying. In some cases, those seeking the funds used the names of actual Bank staff members to sign the letters in order to bolster their credibility.

We have no involvement in such schemes, and we caution the public to be very wary of these and other similar solicitations that falsely claim to be affiliated with the Bank or any member of the EmpactCapital Group.

3. What should you do if you receive suspicious notifications about winning money to be paid by the Bank; faxes, emails, or other correspondence involving requests for money transfers or payments that reference the Bank or any member of the EmpactCapital Group; or solicitations to open a personal bank account at the Bank?

If you receive what seems to be an unusual money request from person(s) representing to be members of the EmpactCapital Group, or have concerns as to the authenticity of the EmpactCapital Group’s actual involvement in a particular transaction, solicitation, notification, directive or request, do NOT respond to the request and do NOT send any money or provide any of your personal bank account details or personal information. 

If you would like to verify whether any particular individual is an EmpactCapital Group employee, please contact the Bank’s Human Resources Service Center at 345-945-1111 or 246-228-8402. The HR Service Center can provide employment verification for EmpactCapital Group employees.

The Bank does not typically investigate these types of scams.  If you feel you have been the victim of such a scam you should contact local law enforcement authorities. 

Further information on these types of schemes can be found on various websites, including those of the FBI, the US Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission:

https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-fraud-schemes/advance-fee-schemes https://www.occ.gov/topics/consumer-protection/fraud-resources/advance-fee-fraud.html
https://www.sec.gov/fast-answers/answersadvancefeefraudhtm.html

4. Fraudulent job postings and offers: What should you do if you receive a suspicious notification about a job posting or offer from the EmpactCapital Group asking you to send money as part of the recruitment process?

There is a worldwide scheme involving fraudulent job postings and offers purporting to be from or associated with the EmpactCapital Group. The scheme is used to falsely obtain money and/or personal information.

The EmpactCapital Group does not request any amount of money as part of its recruitment process.

Official communication from the EmpactCapital Group will always come from emails ending in @empactcapital.com or @empactcapital.com. If you believe that you are a potential victim of a fraudulent job offer, please contact your local law enforcement authorities.