Fraud Prevention & Alerts

Fraud Alerts

Please be aware that Home Federal Bank will not contact you in regards to gaining your passwords or account numbers, via phone, email, text, social media or online chat. It is also very important to keep internet security software up-to-date. This will help protect against computer intrusions and identity theft.

Malware Scam

We have been made aware of a new Internet Banking Malware scam. The victim unknowingly downloads a piece of malware onto the computer by downloading an infected attachment or clicking a bogus web link. The malware then activates at the login of an internet banking site, creating a fake "security check" and a pop-up/chat asking to verify the needed personal information.

IRS Scam

Please be on the lookout for and do not open anything like the following as this is how a scam is being disguised: fraud alerts from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Twitter account hijack warnings, and salacious Youtube.com videos. The fake IRS emails contain the subject line “Notice of Underreported Income” and encourage the recipient to click a link to review their tax statement.

Advertisement Scams

When viewing advertisements for financial services (loans, investments, etc), be mindful of whether it is a reputable company or a fraud scam. Fraudsters have been known to place ads offering financial services. Usually these ads do not contain a business name, just a phone number. The phone number will reach the fraudster and they will attempt to gain your personal information.

FDIC Scams

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received numerous reports of fraudulent e-mails that have the appearance of being from the FDIC.
The e-mails appear to be sent from a “fdic.notification@zixmessagecenter.com” e-mail address and have a subject line of “New ZixCorp secured message from FDIC.”
The fraudulent messages state:

“New ZixCorp secured message from FDIC.
Click here: <link omitted> to Open Message
To view the secured message, click on the above link to open message.”

The messages may include a comment stating that the message will expire at a certain date and time, to create a sense of urgency.
The linked website in the message leads to an unsophisticated page that states “Login To View Your Message” and has two data entry fields labeled “Email Address” and “Enter Your Correct Email Password.”
These e-mails and the linked website are fraudulent and were NOT sent by the FDIC. Recipients should consider these e-mails an attempt to collect or compromise personal or confidential information, such as login credentials and passwords, or to load malicious software onto end users’ computers. Recipients should NOT access the link provided within the body of the e-mail and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.
Financial institutions and consumers should be aware that these fraudulent e-mails may be modified over time with other subject lines, sender names, and narratives.
The FDIC is attempting to identify the source of the emails and disrupt the transmission.

Identity Theft Education Videos

Report Lost or Stolen Card

To report a lost or stolen card, contact us immediately at 1-800-554-8969.