The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is receiving reports of a new telephone scam from a company that refers to itself as “CreditCard Services.” The company claims to be affiliated with the FDIC and offers to lower credit card interest rates.

To verify qualification of the lower interest rate, the caller asks for personal or confidential information. This scam is a variation of a telephone scam in which identity thieves try to persuade consumers to provide information such as, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, and PIN numbers, in the attempt to access accounts or to commit identity theft.

The Federal Trade Commission encourages consumers to report telemarketing fraud at FTC.gov or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP. See the following link to the FTC’s Web site for more information: http://www.ftc.gov/phonefraud.

Information about fraudulent activity involving the FDIC should also be transmitted electronically to the FDIC’s Cyber-Fraud and Financial Crimes Section by e-mailing it to [email protected].