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To report a lost or stolen ATM/Debit MasterCard
To report a lost or stolen ATM/Debit MasterCard, please call our Customer
Service Hot Line at 866-546-8273. Customer service for lost and stolen
cards is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Protect Yourself While Shopping Online with the MasterCard
SecureCode
Protect Yourself While Shopping Online with the MasterCard SecureCode
MasterCard SecureCode is an innovative service offering secure Internet
shopping, using your preferred form of Internet payment - the debit card.
MasterCard SecureCode lets you add a personal SecureCode™ to your
existing card, getting added security and the reassurance that only you
can use your card online. MasterCard SecureCode's service is free of charge.
Click
here to sign up and for more information.
New e-mail scams popping up each day, learn how to protect
yourself.
Watch out for copycat Web sites that deliberately use a name or Web address
very similar to, but not the same as, that of a real financial institution.
The intent is to lure you into clicking onto their Web site and giving
your personal information, such as your account number and password. Always
check to see that you have typed the correct Web site address for your
bank before conducting a transaction.
Internet scammers casting about for people's financial information have
a new way to lure unsuspecting victims: They go “phishing.”
Phishing is a high-tech scam that uses spam or pop-up messages to deceive
you into disclosing your credit card numbers, bank account information,
Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers send
an email or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization
that you deal with – for example, your Internet service provider (ISP),
bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message
usually says that you need to “update” or “validate” your
account information. It might threaten some dire consequence if you don't
respond. The message directs you to a Web site that looks just like a
legitimate organization's site, but it isn't. The purpose of the bogus
site? To trick you into divulging your personal information so the operators
can steal your identity and run up bills or commit crimes in your name.
The FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency, suggests these tips
to help you avoid getting hooked by a phishing scam:
- If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial
information, do not reply or click on the link in the message.
Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via email. If you
are concerned about your account, contact the organization in the email
using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet
browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address. In any
case, don’t cut and paste the link in the message.
- Don't email personal or financial information. Email
is not a secure method of transmitting personal information. If you
initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial
information through an organization’s Web site, look for indicators
that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser's status bar
or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s”
stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof;
some phishers have forged security icons.
- Review credit card and bank account statements as
soon as you receive them to determine whether there are any unauthorized
charges. If your statement is late by more than a couple of days, call
your credit card company or bank to confirm your billing address and
account balances.
- Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
Some phishing emails contain software that can harm your computer or
track your activities on the Internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus
software and a firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting
such unwanted files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications
for troublesome files. Look for anti-virus software that recognizes
current viruses as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse
the damage; and that updates automatically. A firewall helps make you
invisible on the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized
sources. It's especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband
connection. Finally, your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may
offer free software “patches” to close holes in the system that hackers
or phishers could exploit.
- Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any
files from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
- Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get
spam that is phishing for information, forward it to spam@uce.gov.
If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov,
and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft
to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft. Visit www.ftc.gov/spam
to learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair
business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help
consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free
information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov
or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to
hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and
abroad.
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