• Throw away any offer that asks you to pay for a prize or a gift.
• Resist the urge to enter foreign lotteries. It’s illegal to play a foreign lottery through the mail or the telephone.
• If you are selling something, don’t accept a check for more than the selling price, no matter how tempting the offer.
• As a seller, you can suggest an alternative way for the buyer to pay, like an escrow service or online payment service.
• If you accept payment by check, ask for a check drawn on a local financial institution.
• If the buyer insists that you wire back funds, end the transaction immediately.

If you think you’ve been targeted by a counterfeit check scam or other fraudulent activity on your account contact CognateHoldings immediately and report it to the following agencies:

• The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service www.usps.gov or call your local post office.
• Your state or local consumer protection agencies; visit www.naag.org for a list of state Attorneys General.

Tips to protect yourself from identity theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. For your protection, you should always carefully monitor your business and personal bank accounts for fraudulent activity. If you ever see anything unusual, immediately contact CognateHoldings.

• Don’t give your Social Security number over the phone unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Be wary of giving out other identifying information, such as birthplace and mother’s maiden name unless you are sure of the person requesting the information.
• If possible, lock your mailbox or empty it as soon as possible after mail delivery.
• Put outgoing mail in a secure U.S. Postal Service box or take them to the post office.
• Annually check your credit report for unauthorized activity at the three national credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion).
• Use a paper shredder to dispose of old financial records and any other documents that may contain identifying information.
• Don’t leave behind receipts that have credit or debit card numbers at ATMs, stores or gas pumps.
• Don’t put credit card or personal information on a website unless you know that it is secure.
• Always keep your digital information secure.

Wawa Data Breach - What our customers need to know

On December 19, 2019, Wawa announced a data breach of debit and credit card information. We are unaware of any fraudulent impact on our customers’ accounts at this time, but we ask that you be vigilant and do the following:

• Thoroughly review your account activity online and/or your statements for unauthorized transactions.
• If you notice any suspicious transactions, please notify your local branch customer service rep immediately, but no later than 60 days from the statement date.
• If you have not already done so, sign up for automatic alerts on your debit card to help mitigate unauthorized transactions. Log in to your online banking account and click on “Alerts” in the upper right corner to set your options.

Rest assured that CognateHoldings is doing all we can to protect the assets and identity of our customers.

For further information about the breach, please go to https://www.wawa.com/alerts/data-security.