Other Fraud Tips

There are several measures you can take to protect your business from various telephone fraud situations. Here are some examples.

Prizes
Fraudulent telemarketers may call you with a promise of a prize, such as a car, vacation or large sum of money. However, they may ask for a “fee” for shipping and taxes. Sometimes, these callers will leave you a message. Unless you know who called you, don’t return the call, as you may risk falling victim to these scams.

Protect Yourself and Report Concerns
There are many other ways fraudsters can attempt to scam your business. For more tips on protecting yourself from phone fraud, visit the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Protection Library.

If you suspect you are a victim of fraud, contact your state attorney general consumer protection unit or the FCC.

Cybercriminals attempt to steal money by installing malicious software (also known as malware) on your computer or by stealing personal information from your computer.

How does it happen? Fraudsters may use social engineering to convince you to install the malware or hand over your personal information under false pretenses. You might receive an email or be asked to download something from a website.

What action can I take? Be watchful and aware. Cybercriminals often try to pretend that they’re a legitimate brand or company by using graphics in an email or website in an attempt to fool you.

• Do not open an email you were not expecting to receive or a message that is not from a trusted sender.
• Do not click email or website links you are not familiar with or you were not expecting to receive. Hover (but do not click) over the link to see if the address matches the link typed in the message. Links may lead you to .exe files, which are known to spread malware.
• Watch for spelling and bad grammar. If you notice mistakes in an email, it may be a scam. Professional companies usually have copy editors on staff to correct grammar and spelling errors.
• Be wary of emails that threaten to close your account or some other action if you fail to respond. Instead of falling for a fake alert, contact the company or brand you do business with directly by opening a browser window and typing the website address of the company yourself, rather than clicking on a link. Verify with the company whether the information sent to you is legitimate.

Midco and other companies often log and track these reports to put additional protections or notifications in place if they’re seeing trends in malicious behavior.

We periodically receive reports that cybercriminals are falsely stating they’re from Midco. If you have experienced this or question whether Midco is involved, please contact us at 1.800.888.1300.

If you have clicked on a link from a potentially malicious email message or website that’s representing itself as Midco, we want to investigate. Contact us at 1.800.888.1300.

If you have clicked on such a link, we advise that you:

• Notify your credit card company (in the event you provided credit card information).
• File a fraud alert with one of the credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion or Innovis. Each agency is required by law to notify the others. The alert lasts for 90 days, is free and can be renewed. Review the FTC Place Fraud Alert instructions for details. Please note that consumers who can demonstrate they are victims or are likely victims of identity theft can apply for a long-term fraud alert that lasts up to seven years.
• Notify your local police department of the fraud and request a copy of the police report.

Internet fraud can occur at any time, but there are sensible, simple ways to protect your online identity.

Passwords

• Periodically change passwords for your various online and email accounts.
• Never create passwords that contain real words. Instead use passwords that include multiple letters, numbers, capitalization and symbols (if allowed).
• Never share your password with anyone.
• Do not use the same password for your social media accounts for email accounts, other website logins – especially passwords for your sensitive banking, finance or health website accounts.

Emails

• Be suspicious of any phone, online or email request for money, financial information or other personal information, especially “urgent” requests related to a situation that doesn’t make sense to you. For example, if an email asks you to confirm your order number or credit card information when you have not ordered anything recently, do not provide this information.
• Do not provide your credit card number, PIN or other sensitive information to others in an email, over social media or any other unencrypted or unsecure channel.
• When in doubt, do not provide any information without first verifying the legitimacy of the request by contacting the organization directly. Don’t use contact information provided online, by a caller or included in an email.
• Always look up email addresses or phone numbers through legitimate channels. For example, go to the company’s website directly and look for contact information.
• Email can be especially misleading. The “from” and “to” addresses in an email can be easily faked and appear to be legitimate or associated with someone you may know. Links inside an email to a company website can point to fake, realistic-looking copies of the genuine website.
• Never reply to the email “sender” and never click links inside an email. Instead compose a new email using a verified email account or manually open a new browser tab, search for the organization site and go there directly.

In general, if a request for information is unusual, unexpected, doesn’t make sense or sounds too good to be true, we encourage you to slow down, think and listen to any instincts telling you to be careful.

There are many other ways fraudsters can attempt to scam your business. For more tips on protecting yourself from Internet fraud, visit the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer Protection Library.

Midco will not ask you for sensitive personal or business information over email. We may ask for this information over the phone during account and service setup. We may also call customers with payment issues and discuss this information. If you ever want to confirm that the person on the call is from Midco, you can disconnect the call and contact our team directly at 1.800.888.1300 to confirm whether the request is legitimate.

Midco handles all of its own billing internally. Avoid sharing your personal information with any fraudulent callers stating that they’re taking over Midco billing. Contact our team directly at 1.800.888.1300 to confirm whether the request is legitimate.

Midco periodically conducts surveys asking for your feedback on your experience with our company and our services. These surveys often take place through phone calls, emails and online surveys.