For immediate release: May 9, 2012
Recently the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has received a significant number of unauthorized transactions in which customers try to use the Atlanta Fed's account to pay their bills. Many of these unauthorized payments were created by customers of service providers, such as utility companies and cable companies, for the purpose of paying bills and were submitted for payment using the Atlanta Fed's account number. Atlanta Fed representatives have heard from some consumers that they had found information online indicating that they could use the Atlanta Fed's account numbers to pay their bills.
It is important for consumers to know that when making online or e-check bill payments, they cannot use Federal Reserve accounts. Any text, email, phone call, flyer or website that describes how to pay bills using a Federal Reserve Bank's account is a scam.
The payments being attempted using the Atlanta Fed's account information are being intercepted and returned. Consumers who have attempted to use the Atlanta Fed's account number to pay their bills may be subject to penalty fees from the company they were attempting to pay.