Reminder to Stay Vigilant: Be Aware of Impersonation Calls

Farm Credit East has been alerted to a rise in fraud attempts involving criminals impersonating trusted financial institutions, including Farm Credit System institutions and CoBank, Farm Credit East’s funding bank. These scammers may spoof legitimate phone numbers, making it appear that the call is coming from a trusted organization even when it is not.

We remind customers to stay vigilant. The goal of these fraudsters is often to create a sense of urgency and pressure customers into taking immediate action before verifying the legitimacy of the request. Farm Credit East will never call and ask for your passwords, MFA codes or other private account information. If a call is suspicious or unexpected, hang up the phone and call us back at a known number to verify a request.

Following are some important reminders for what to look out for.

Warning Signs of an Impersonation Scam

Be cautious if the caller:

• Pressures you to act immediately.
• Tells you not to contact your relationship manager.
• Claims a transaction must be approved right away.
• Requests confidential information, including MFA or verification codes.
• Provides a callback number different from the one you already have on file.
• Creates a sense of fear, urgency or secrecy.

Important: Farm Credit East Will NEVER 

• Ask for your password or other online credentials
• Request a one-time MFA verification code
• Request you click a link sent by text message or email while on the phone
• Transfer money to a "safe" or "secure" account

Any request of this nature should be treated as suspicious

What to do If You Receive a Suspicious Call

1. Stop and Verify: Do not rely on the caller ID. Fraudsters can make it appear as though they are calling from a legitimate phone number.
2. Do Not Share Information: Do not provide passwords, MFA codes, or any banking or account information.
3. Do Not Click Links: Do not click links, scan QR codes or open attachments sent during or after a suspicious call. 
4. Hang Up & Contact Us: End the call immediately if something does not seem right. Call Farm Credit East using a known phone number to verify the request. Do not use a phone number, email address or website provided by the caller. Independent verification is one of the most effective defenses against fraud.

Special Reminder for Online Banking Users

Fraudsters increasingly target customers by attempting to gain access to online banking accounts and payment systems. In some cases, attackers may attempt account takeover fraud by using stolen personal information, impersonation techniques or social engineering tactics designed to obtain MFA codes

To better protect yourself:

• Use strong, unique passwords.
• Enable and maintain multi-factor authentication.
• Never share authentication codes with anyone.
• Regularly review account activity.
• Report unusual account activity immediately.
• Verify any requests involving account changes, payments, ACH transfers, or wire instructions through a known and trusted contact method.

If You Suspect Fraud

If you believe you may have interacted with a scammer or disclosed sensitive information, complete the following steps:

1. Change affected passwords immediately.
2. Contact Farm Credit East.
3. Review recent account activity for unauthorized transactions.

Stay Vigilant

Protecting our customers and cooperative members remains a top priority. Scammers continue to evolve their tactics and may use phone calls, emails, text messages, spoofed caller IDs, artificial intelligence and impersonation techniques to appear legitimate. When something feels unusual, pause, verify and contact the provider through trusted channels before taking any action.