FRAUD ALERT!    SPOOF Web Sites and Phishing 

  Beware of e-mails asking you to update your personal information via a Web site. This latest scam is referred to as 'Phishing'.
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How It Works:  A criminal initiates an e-mail with a seemingly legitimate message directing consumers to a Web site or including an embedded form to validate or update their personal information such as account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, etc. These 'SPOOF' Web sites are setup for the sole purpose of stealing the consumer's identity and assets or engaging in other illegal acts.
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  The perpetrators go to extreme measures to convince the consumers that it is a legitimate message from someone whom they already do business with, such as a bank. Techniques used are false 'from' addresses or a seemingly legitimate bank logo, web link, or graphics lifted from the actual bank's Web site. The fraudsters usually refer to some kind of technical data loss or clerical error.
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Tips To Avoid The Scam:

1. If you receive an e-mail that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you reconfirm your billing or account information, do not reply or click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, contact the company cited in the e-mail using a telephone number or Web site address you know to be genuine.
2. Avoid e-mailing personal and financial information. Before submitting financial information through a Web site, confirm that you are on a secured Web page:

   • Look for the padlock in the lower right (Internet Explorer) or left (Netscape) corner of your browser window;
   • and Look in the address window above, the letters https:// should appear in front of the address of the form screen (instead of the non-secure http:// address)

3. Legitimate Web sites maintain current certificates for secure pages or applications To authenticate the site's secure Web page, follow these steps:
   • On the secure Web page, click on the File menu and go to Properties
   • Click on the button at the bottom of the screen called 'Certificates' - it should include the Web address (URL) with which the security certificate was issued and the validity dates.
4. 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.
5. Report suspicious activity to the FTC. Send the actual spam to uce@ftc.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 (www.ftc.gov/idtheft) to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from identity theft.
6. Visit www.ftc.gov/spam to learn other ways to avoid e-mail scams and deal with deceptive spam. The Federal Trade Commission 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.
7. 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.

Track your web site's popularity, and your competition's as well!  The Alexa toolbar for Microsoft Internet Explorer can give you full metrics on how popular your site is, how many pages of the average visitor views, and how long they stay!  AND ITS FREE TOO!  Another advantage it has, is that BLOCKS ALL THOSE POP-UP ADS as well.  In addition, Alexa's Related Links are a great way to discover new sites. As you surf the web, the toolbar is constantly updating with information about where other users visit ( a great research aid, and it shows you all the competitors for every site you visit, including yours!)
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FREE Stuff! Everybody loves free stuff, and you can get all sorts of Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover merchant materials just by asking!  Actually, you need to go to the proper places on their websites and tell them what you want! The links to these sites are at the bottom of this newsletter, and you can get decals, tip trays, calendars, signs, mouse pads and more!  You 'pay' for it simply by identifying yourself as a merchant with your merchant number.  This number is 12 or 16 characters for Visa / Mastercard, 15 for Discover, and 9 for American Express. Look on your statements for this number.  
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Suggestion Box: Got an idea? Can you think of an improvement on any of our products?  Is there anything you think we do that could stand improvement?  Let us know! Send your suggestions to: info@merchantanywhere.com 
we want to hear from you!

I can't remember that crazy URL to enter my transactions! We hear that a LOT. So, to help our merchants remember, we now have created the convenient:

  www.EnterTransactions.com

which is certainly easier to remember! 
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