Federal banking and tax officials are warning consumers and lenders about a multi-state gang of slick identity thieves out to steal personal financial information to gain access to large chunks of your cash.

Households have reported receiving a bogus letter and fake Internal Revenue Service forms, purportedly from their banks.

The letter requests that you fill out and fax in the forms within seven days or, the faux missive warns, the government will withhold 31 percent of the interest on your bank accounts.

The phony letter begins: "Dear Customer, We are currently updating our resident, non-resident alien and citizen records. This is to enable us (sic) detect persons exempted from the United States reporting and withholding tax on interest paid to you on your bank account and other financial dealings," which amounts to gibberish, but sounds all too much like financial business jargon found in legitimate letters from financial services.

The phony form asks for your account numbers, personal identification numbers (PIN), passwords, date of birth, mother's maiden name, date and amount of your last deposit, phone and fax numbers, where and when you worked in the last 12 months and a host of other information.

Much of the information is highly personal financial information you'd typically provide only under the most secure conditions and certainly not by fax. It's the kind of information you often have to present to withdraw, transfer and deposit funds by telephone or electronically -- but only after you have initiated the request.

That's just what the identity thieves want -- to contact your bank pretending to be you and gain access to your funds.

"Accordingly, when the perpetrator of the fraud contacts your bank in person, telephonically or through electronic means, they have all the necessary customer information to appear credible," the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Administrator of National Banks said in "Alert 2002-3 -- Identity Theft Description: Fictitious IRS Forms and Bank Letters Date: April 5, 2002" sent recently to lending institutions.

Once the crooks have your information only voice-stamp security could prevent them from completing the crime and that's virtually never available.

"These incidents are not limited to the customers of small community banks. Documents like those attached are being circulated nationwide in an attempt to steal your customer's identity and money by having your customer disclose personal and banking information," the OCC's alert says.

Officials say immigrants and others living abroad may be especially vulnerable because the fake letter appears to target them and they may not speak English or be familiar with privacy laws and security systems in place to protect personal financial information, savings and investments.

Identity theft is considered the nation's fastest growing crime and the IRS says the latest scam involves these phony forms:

Published: May 8, 2002

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.