Be Aware of Cyber Scams and Frauds
Cyber criminals are using more sophisticated technologies than ever before to target you and attempt to separate you from your money. To protect yourself from hackers, scammers, and identity thieves, always proceed with caution and confirm requests are legitimate before responding.
Horizon Bank will never call you to ask for your Online Banking login credentials or other personal information; including recent transactions, PIN number or account or debit card numbers.
Common Frauds:
TELEPHONE FRAUD
Vishing is a live phone call or voice message from a person claiming to be your bank or credit card company, stating that your account has been compromised or frozen. Scammers will attempt to trick you into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The callers are seemingly helpful and friendly, and may even have some data that does match your own – like an address.
PROTECT YOURSELF: Be suspicious of 800-number callers. Do not reveal any financial data including PIN numbers, last 4 digits of debit cards, account numbers, or recent transactions. Do not return voicemails of this nature.
TEXT MESSAGE FRAUD
Smishing is a text message attempting to obtain sensitive information, often stating that your account has been restricted, and that you’ll need to call a phone number or click a link to gain access. These text messages may look like they’re from a company you know or trust, and you may not realize the message is fake until it is too late. Learn more about Smishing.
Tip: Delete any text messages that ask you to confirm or provide personal information.
EMAIL FRAUD
Phishing is the criminal attempt to steal your personal information through fraudulent emails or smart-phone texts. They are often very believable, luring the victim to a site that asks them to provide (or “verify”) personal financial details such as account numbers and social security numbers. A variation is called Spear Phishing, which are electronic messages that appear to come especially to victims from their employer, usually a large corporation.
Tip: Be suspicious of 800-number callers.
COMPUTER FRAUD
Spyware is the term used for criminal software that a victim unknowingly loads on a personal computer. Once there, the spyware collects personal information and sends it to the criminal.
Tip: Keep your computer security software up-to-date
The most important thing to remember is that Horizon Bank will never call you to ask for your Online Banking login credentials or other personal information; including recent transactions, PIN number or account or debit card numbers. If in doubt about any communications from the bank, please don’t hesitate to contact your local Horizon Bank or call us at 888-873-2640.