Computer owners are acquiring a taste for the convenience of moving money from home with the mere click of a mouse. Banks are finding online banking sites quite the conduit to pitch loans and other products. Some clever cyber-crooks have found their fraudulent sites to be a passive, relatively easy way to collect money. That means a low threshold of entry for the scam artist with good Web design software. They're really varied in terms of the sophistication and how convincing they are.
Intrigued consumers sign up and mail in a check or money order as an opening deposit.
It's that simple. But it's also possible that site operators could mine from customer applicants data such as Social Security or credit card numbers. The FDIC has referred three suspicious sites to federal law enforcement agencies. Last September, a federal grand jury indicted three North Carolina residents for fraud and money laundering charges. Their Netware International Bank allegedly operated without a banking charter and made such promises as a 20 percent return on savings.