protect your credit card!

If you suspect that someone stole your credit card number and used it to make a purchase,

these are the steps to take:

1. Ask your spouse, children, and any other household members whether they used your card online without mentioning it to you.  Make it clear to them that you're about to contact the authorities to report a case of theft and fraud.

Many reported cases turn out later to have simply been family members using a card number without telling the cardholder.

2. Contact us to ask what subscription was purchased.

Provide:

* your name,
* the first 4 digits of your card number,
* the final 4 digits of the card number,
* the date of the charge
* the exact amount of the charge

and

* your email address, fax number, and/or telephone number.

We will respond and let you know what was purchased.  (Please give us time, we will have to check multiple databases.)

3. If you are now sure the purchase was not yours nor anyone in your household, contact your card-issuing bank's Fraud Department (there is an 800 number on the back of your card).  Tell them someone stole your card number and used it to make a purchase from us.  Your card bank will cancel the card, issue a new account with a different number, and mail you a new credit card.

At this point we suggest that you ask us to initiate the refund, not your bank.  If you ask the bank to initiate the refund, it will take them TWO MONTHS to do it, whereas if you ask us to do the refund, it will only take a few days!

4. After you've called your card bank, inform us that someone stole your card number and used it to purchase a subscription from us.  We recommend you do this in writing, since this will become part of the case regarding whoever stole your card number.

Provide all prior information that you sent us, along with copies of the information that we gave you, and also provide:

* the 800 phone number on the back of your credit card
* the name of your card-issuing bank

and

* your email address, fax number, and/or telephone number.

5. We will phone your card issuer's Fraud Department to make sure they have logged your report of card-number theft.  We will assist them in tracing the IP# of the computer that placed the order, in order to identify the person who stole your card number.

6. We will transmit your old card number to a Fraud Database so that the card number can't be used for any future purchases on the internet.

7. We will transmit the purchase amount back to you.  (Don't worry, your card bank will automatically transfer the refund from the old card number to your new card number.)

To initiate this process, contact us:

Contact Open Mind Media (remember, DO NOT transmit your entire card number - never email your entire card number over the internet!)

Phone 1-800-291-9332
Outside of U.S./Canada, call:  Country Code 1, area code 818, then 832-1101
Office hours:  9-5 Pacific Time, M-F
(If you leave a message, please remember to spell your name and contact information!)

Provide:

* your name,
* the first 4 digits of your card number,
* the final 4 digits of the card number,
* the date of the charge
* the exact amount of the charge

and

* your email address, fax number, and/or telephone number.