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During the holiday season, you might expect to get more deliveries. Some might even be surprise gifts. Scammers are counting on that when they send fake delivery notifications to you by email and text, hoping you'll click. Here's how to spot these scams.

You get an email or text saying you missed the delivery. Or it might say your item can't be delivered because you need to update your street address or zip code. Sometimes, these scammers create a sense of urgency...

As we're now in the full holiday season swing, there are more fake shopping sites. The ads on social media show expensive products like electric scooters, designer bags, and other popular toys and gifts at unbelievably low prices. Many of these bogus sites use photos and logos the scammers steal from legitimate businesses, but they won't send you authentic products. If you're wondering how to avoid these phony offers, there are a few ways to help you detect them.

Unusually...

At Home State Bank, we are committed to the security and safeguarding of your financial assets. While we have the state-of-the-art systems in place to prevent cybersecurity on our end, cybercrime doesn’t happen in one place.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. To keep your financial assets safe from hackers and scammers, follow these tips:

What do Email, Text, social media, and Online Messaging all have in common? They can all be used to share memories from around the world, but they can also be used to distribute phishing attacks. The new reality of phishing is that they are using a multipronged approach; they are now reaching your social media feed, text messages, and phone calls.

Social Media/Trusted Platforms

We all love to connect with friends and family – be aware that attackers are leaning on those...

When it comes to financial literacy, Home State Bank is dedicated to bringing awareness and hands-on experience all year round to our customers and our whole community. While Home State Bank offers financial literacy support within our walls to our customers, we also want to

ensure everyone in our community has the opportunity to learn lifelong financial skills, such as how to manage, save, budget, and invest their money wisely.

Progress Through Partnerships

We’re...

Tax time is upon us, a sign that phishing season has begun.

The IRS states that scams may differ in themes, but generally, they have two traits:

Criminals continue to make aggressive...

You’ve likely seen the FDIC logo and heard of it but what is it actually and how does it work?

FDIC stands for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC is an independent agency of the U.S. government that protects depositors (that’s you) against loss if an FDIC-insured bank should fail or close. While it is not common, it can happen. Understanding how FDIC insurance works is important.

It’s an added security for your money should something happen to...

It's hard to imagine light at the end of the tunnel when you are stuck in a bad place financially. I was in a place in my life where money didn't have meaning. You spent it the way you needed to and if you didn't have it, you charged it. When medical bills would roll in, I would toss them to the side because they were at the bottom of my priority list. They were turned over to collections time and time again, dropping my credit score more and more each time. 

Now,...

Have you purchased or possibly refinanced your home mortgage, recently?  Well, you could be a target.  

Recently blue postcards have been landing in our mailboxes.  They say "IMMEDIATE RESPONSE NEEDED" or "ACT NOW", as it pertains to your loan.

THIS IS DEFINITELY A SCAM! 

If you've recently purchased or even refinanced your home mortgage, this makes you susceptible to becoming a prime target of this specific scam.  

Scams have always been around. But with all our technological advances and less face-to-face interactions, it’s been easier for criminals to target those who may feel they are in vulnerable situations to take advantage of them.

And we don’t see scams going away. In fact, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2021 Internet Crime Report both cybercrime and the amount of money lost to cybercrime rose.

Scammers will take advantage in any...