By Becky Polaski
MasterCard recently issued a warning to its members regarding a new phishing scam that has been taking place on the Internet.
According to the MasterCard Web site, “Phishing is an e-mail scam technique used by Internet fraudsters to entice unsuspecting consumers to divulge sensitive valuable information. Fraudsters involved in phishing schemes lead consumers to believe that they are responding to a bona fide e-mail request from a well-known institution to update their information.”
Posing as members of the MasterCard Security Team, scammers send individuals a legitimate sounding e-mail in hopes of obtaining their personal information.

“What scammers are doing is sending this e-mail out saying that someone from a certain Internet address was trying to access their credit card,” explained Barb Miles from Farmers National Bank. “They want you to click on this link and fill out all your information. That’s how they’re getting people’s information.”
The e-mail begins by stating that there have been unusual log-in attempts made to the individual’s credit card account. The e-mail then states that in order for the individual to restore their account status they must click a link and fill out an online form with their credit card information.
Among the information that the individual is asked to provide is their name, billing address, date of birth, social security number, credit card number, and credit card expiration date.
MasterCard urges individuals to be wary of the e-mails they receive and use caution in divulging sensitive account information online.
For more information on how to protect against phishing scams, visit www.mastercard.com.

MasterCard offers individuals the following tips to protect against phishing scams:
• Be wary of phishing e-mail. Banks do not contact customers to ask them to provide sensitive information such as passwords and PINs online. Look for indications such as spelling and grammatical errors that expose the e-mail as being not genuine.
• Do not click hastily on links appearing in incoming e-mails and provide payment card or other personal information. Make it a practice to connect to an institution's Web site only by directly typing the institution's valid Web address into the Web browser.
• Notify us and the local law enforcement authorities promptly by forwarding suspicious phishing-type e-mails. This action will help us to shut down the fake Web site and to take action against the criminals.
• Monitor the transactions appearing on your statements, and quickly report suspicious transactions to us.
• Change passwords and PINs periodically.
• Install anti-spam and firewall software on your personal computer to stop receiving spam and to prevent unauthorized access.
• Turn off your computer when not in use, to avoid criminals gaining access and misusing it for fraudulent purposes, which includes launching phishing attacks.
• If you suspect that you have become a victim of a phishing attack and already have divulged your sensitive account information to fraudsters, please contact the financial institution that issued your card or contact our emergency services.
• Continue to monitor your statement for unauthorized transactions, if your account is not closed.
• Report the incident to the police.