Years ago, if you had money in the bank, you worried about Jesse James, Willie Sutton, and John Dillinger, three of the country’s most notorious bank robbers. If you’re a moviegoer, add Bonnie and Clyde to that list.

Today, they’ve all been replaced by an even more sophisticated and dangerous breed – online thieves – who not only want to steal your money but your identity, as well.

What’s more, these would-be daring robberies, according to leading Big Apple banks, are sweeping the city, and many seem to be succeeding.

I can attest to the attempted theft firsthand, having recently received an alarming e-mail from Bank of America’s customer service department. In brief, my online banking, I was informed, was blocked; I could no longer withdraw any money.

Why? Because after reviewing my account, the bank suspected that it may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party. In other words, someone had had the chance to rob me. As a preventive measure, the bank had temporarily limited access to my sensitive account features.

It sounded to me like Bank of America was really on the ball and should be praised for keeping close tabs on my account and alerting me to the fact that skullduggery was at work.

It annoyed me that the bank was insisting on an online update of all my records within 48 hours – a really time-consuming chore – and that failure to update them would result in a temporary hold on all my funds, the e-mail said. But then again, it seemed to make sense, as the bank explained it, because the purpose is “to confirm your identity so we can protect your account.”

Sounds like really efficient security, but BofA was talking about a bank account that never was. I don’t have an online banking account at Bank of America; I’ve never had one there, in fact.

In a follow-up, a BofA spokeswoman told me my letter was a phony. “We would never send out anything like that, nor would any other bank,” she said, adding that “you can’t imagine how many complaints we’re getting.” She warned me: “Someone is trying to steal your identity. Whatever you do, don’t answer that e-mail and give them what they really want – your Social Security number, your date of birth, the names of your banks and password and bank codes, or your credit card numbers.”

My bogus BofA e-mail – which appeared to be very official – was hardly unusual, I was told. In fact, similar e-mail is flooding New York City residents, according to the Better Business Bureau, which says it has been besieged by a growing number of complaints, including those from people who unfortunately provided some con artists with the information they sought.

One thing about the e-mail that did strike me as odd was a paragraph in bold that read: “Tank you [instead of thank you] for your patience as we work together to protect your account.”

Citibank and Chase also tell me their banks are being used as pawns in such identity theft schemes. “I think it’s only a matter of time before every city bank is included,” one Chase official said. She noted that letters bearing a look-alike Chase logo were also being used aggressively in an effort to obtain identity and private banking information.

“I don’t know how much money has been stolen through this scam, but I would guess many thousands of New Yorkers have been bilked out of well up in the millions,” the Chase official estimates. Nationally, she figures, it’s more than a $100 million a year rip-off at the banking level.

The significance of the problem at Citibank can be seen in the fact that when you dial up the automatic services at the bank, the voice for the very first option says, “If you believe you have been a victim of identification theft, push no. 6.” One Citibank branch manager says: “I could tell you some horror stories concerning senior citizens that you wouldn’t believe.” She declined, however, to discuss them.

A word of advice from the Better Business Bureau: Your best response to a suspicious e-mail seeking information about you or your banking records is to delete it! Another BBB warning: Identity-seeking online crooks are headed in growing numbers to porn, dating, and pet sites; so if you frequent those sites, watch out.

dandordan@aol.com