Empty Stocking Fund Collection Drive

Empty Stocking Fund Collection Begins October 6

Join us in helping to make the holidays a little brighter for Harford County’s families in need—donate to the Empty Stocking Fund! Bring new unwrapped toys, food goods, or monetary donations to any of our five branches. The collection drive kicks off October, 6th and continues through the end of the year.

Collection bins for new unwrapped toys and food items will be available at all five Freedom branches. Collected items go to Empty Stocking headquarters as the bins fill. Before the holidays, volunteers then pull together a “stocking” full of of donated items specially chosen for each child on the Fund’s list. Bring in a gift for a baby, a teenage boy, or a toddler girl. Stockings are given out to kids of all ages and with all interests!

Get in the holiday spirit and make a donation to The Empty Stocking Fund this season!

Fundraiser Benefits Children’s Hospital

Credit Unions for Kids Benefit

We’re participating in a Children’s Miracle Network fundraiser! The Miracle Jeans Day-Credit Union for Kids benefit raises money for our local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. Donate at any branch throughout September to benefit Johns Hopkins Children’s hospital.

Miracle Jeans Day
The Miracle Jeans Day-Credit Union for Kids fundraiser began with employees. Freedom employees were encouraged to donate $5 for the opportunity to go “Casual for Kids” by wearing jeans. The one-day event took place on September 13. Proceeds support John’s Hopkins Children’s Hospital’s greatest needs, including include life-saving research, treatments, equipment and charitable care.

Collection Boxes Available in all Branches as Benefit Continues
Fundraising continues through the end of September. As more employees give, we encourage members to chip in as well. Help us reach our goal of $1,000 in donations!

Sponsorships and Giveback
It’s important to us to give back. To support the Harford County Community, we provide free financial education, support local organizations, and routinely volunteer in the community. It’s all about making Freedom a special place to work and a special place to bank.

FTC Addresses Equifax Scams

Scams Follow Equifax Breach

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent out an article about a new scam exploiting the Equifax hack. See the article below. To stay current on the latest scams and what to do to avoid them, review our Fraud Alerts page. This page is continually updated with the latest information and advice from many sources.

Equifax isn’t calling

September 14, 2017, by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle
Attorney, FTC, Division of Consumer and Business Education

Ring, ring. “This is Equifax calling to verify your account information.” Stop. Don’t tell them anything. They’re not from Equifax. It’s a scam. Equifax will not call you out of the blue.

That’s just one scam you might see after Equifax’s recent data breach. Other calls might try to trick you into giving your personal information. Here are some tips for recognizing and preventing phone scams and imposter scams:

Don’t give personal information. Don’t provide any personal or financial information unless you’ve initiated the call and it’s to a phone number you know is correct.
Don’t trust caller ID. Scammers can spoof their numbers so it looks like they are calling from a particular company, even when they’re not.
If you get a robocall, hang up. Don’t press 1 to speak to a live operator or any other key to take your number off the list. If you respond by pressing any number, it will probably just lead to more robocalls.

If you’ve already received a call that you think is fake, report it to the FTC.

If you gave your personal information to an imposter, it’s time to change any compromised passwords, account numbers or security questions. And if you’re concerned about identity theft, visit IdentityTheft.gov to learn how you can protect yourself.

For more information about the Equifax breach, visit Equifax’s website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com or contact their call center at 866-447-7559.