Fraud prevention

You can avoid fraud if you know how to detect it. There are several different types of card fraud to avoid:

• Card not present fraud: fraudsters can obtain your credit card details from such things as discarded receipts. They can then use this information to purchase high value or desirable goods online, by phone or mail order. For transactions online or by phone the retailer does not need to see the card (or require the PIN), hence the name "card not present fraud".
  
• Identity theft/account takeover fraud: fraudsters can obtain your personal details from various sources including: discarded mail, intercepted post, phishing

  phishing

  Phishing - an attempt at identity theft using a fake website or email that looks identical or similar to the genuine website that a user is used to seeing.

  , vishing

  vishing

  Vishing - is the criminal practice of using social engineering and Voice over IP (VoIP) to gain access to private personal and financial information for the purpose of financial reward. The term is a combination of "voice" and phishing. When you answer a phone call, an automated recording, often generated with a text to speech synthesizer, is played to alert you that your credit card has had fraudulent activity and you should call a designated number immediately. Moreover, that same phone number is often shown in the spoofed caller ID with the same name as the financial company they are pretending to represent. If you receive this type of call, you are advised to contact your bank or credit card company directly to verify its validity.

  , smishing

  smishing

  Smishing - is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. With smishing, you may receive SMS messages through your mobile device that may ask you to register for an online service and then try to sneak a virus onto your device. Other types of messages may warn that you will be charged unless you cancel a supposed order by going to a website that will attempt to extract credit card information and other private data.

  , spoofing

  spoofing

  Spoofing - forging and distributing emails to acquire a valid password to gain unauthorized access to a computer.

  , hoax calls, social networking websites, public records, hacking

  hacking

  Hacking - an attempt by an accomplished technical computer operator to break into computers or networks for illegal purposes.

  genuine websites and listening in on telephone calls. Once they have your personal details they can use this to access your account, order cards, change your address, complete a balance transfer or deposit and assume the identity of a genuine customer in order to purchase goods or obtain funds fraudulently.
  
• Application fraud: this is another form of identity theft

  identity theft

  Identity Theft - the crime of impersonating someone for a financial or criminal gain.

  . In this case, the fraudster uses your personal details to apply for a brand new credit card or bank account rather than taking over an existing account. This often happens when the genuine customer has moved from their previous address.
  
• Counterfeit fraud: this is the manufacture of a fake credit card using genuine card details. The card details are copied from the magnetic strip of the genuine card using a device called a skimmer

  skimmer

  Skimmer - a tool that aids the process of copying card details from the magnetic strip on the back of the card to be transferred on to a counterfeit card for the purpose of fraudulent use.

  . This information is then transferred to the magnetic strip on a fake credit card that can be used to purchase goods online or in countries where Chip & PIN has not yet been introduced.
• Malware fraud: short for "malicious software", malware refers to software programs that are distributed in the form of innocent-looking popups, emails or spam

  Spam

  Spam - junk email that you have not requested from the distributor.

  but are designed to damage, capture information or do other unwanted actions to your computer. Common examples include viruses

  viruses

  Viruses - a code written to spread from one computer to the next, damaging hardware or used to access a computer for criminal intent.

  , worms

  worms

  Worms - a self-replicating virus that does not alter files, but resides in active memory and duplicates itself for the purpose of malicious intent (like shutting systems down).

  , trojan horses

  trojan horses

  Trojan Horses - a computer program or email attachment that appears to be useful but is actually harmful and may include a virus.

  , adware

  adware

  Adware: advertisements that "pop up" in a separate browser window. Some look like they come from respectable financial institutions and ask for personal financial information. Others might have a link that downloads spyware. Please note that most financial institutions will never request personal financial information or that you download from a pop-up.

  and spyware

  spyware

  Spyware - a software that spies on your computer to capture information like web browsing habits, email messages, user names and passwords and credit card information.

  .

Fraud can happen to you at any time and through a number of different sources. It is important that you quickly recognize it and know what to do to help mitigate the risk of you being impacted.

• If your credit card is lost or stolen or you do not recognize a transaction on your credit card account statement, please contact our Customer Service department, toll-free, at 1-800-404-1319. The sooner you report it, the sooner we can block your account from further use and issue you a new credit card account number.
• If you suspect a fraudulent email or phishing related to an MBNA credit card account, please attach the email to the Email Fraud form below.
• If we believe your credit card device (i.e. card plastic) may have been lost, stolen or compromised, we will try to contact you to ensure that you still have your credit card and to verify any recent transactions.
• It is important to keep your personal details up-to-date. If you move or your personal details change, please let us know so that we can update our records. We will contact you as soon as possible if we suspect fraudulent activity. Also, remember to stop or divert your mail when you are away from home for an extended period of time.
• Legitimate emails from MBNA will always address you using your title and surname and will contain the last 4 digits of your credit card account number. This will help you verify that the email originated from a trusted source. We will always require you to log in to our secure Online Banking service in order to share personal information, if required. We will never ask for your credit card account number or any other personal information to be sent to us via email.
• If we contact you by phone, we will always ask you to confirm your identity with only part of your personal information. We will also provide our toll-free number (1-800-404-1319) for you to call us back.