As a Middlesex Savings Bank customer, your security is a top priority of ours. We ask you to be vigilant of increased fraud attempts this time of year and encourage you to review the following common techniques that fraudsters use and tips to avoid falling victim to a scam.
Be cautious of unsolicited communications from retailers and/or vendors that may use these techniques:
Follow these safety tips to help prevent fraud:
For more information, please visit the Security Center. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Payment Risk Department at 508-599-5728.
Be cautious of unsolicited communications from retailers and/or vendors that may use these techniques:
- Phishing: You receive an email from an imposter that looks legitimate asking you to send money or provide personal information. The request may have an urgent tone.
- Vishing: Similar to phishing, vishing occurs when you receive a fraudulent request over the phone.
- Smishing: Similar to phishing and combining the terms “SMS” and “phishing”, this refers to fraudulent messages sent over SMS text messaging. Fraudsters may text you asking if you’ve recently made a purchase and ask you to verify that purchase by providing confidential information, such as login credentials or account information.
Follow these safety tips to help prevent fraud:
- Never provide personal information in response to an unsolicited request, whether it is over the phone, email or text message. Scammers may ask for confidential information such as your passwords, social security number, debit card information, and bank account number.
- Never send money to someone that you don’t know. If something doesn't seem right, you can always hang up, stop communicating, or walk away.
- Do not respond to any suspicious looking emails, automated calls, or text messages.
- Ask that the request be verified over the phone with a call back to the individual sending the request.
- Consult with someone you trust to help assess the legitimacy of the communication.
- Always verify changes in vendor, bank, or payment information by means other than e-mail or text messaging. This may include communicating via phone.
For more information, please visit the Security Center. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Payment Risk Department at 508-599-5728.