If you receive a text message on your phone from your bank, and it asks you to log into your card account immediately -- but you didn't contact the bank -- raise your mental drawbridge. The same goes for a message that arrives via Facebook, Twitter or any other mode of communication.

"Any unsolicited phone call, email, text or social media message could be a phishing attempt," says Erik Mueller, vice president of payment system integrity at MasterCard Worldwide. "Be skeptical of these messages, especially if they request credit or debit card data or personal information, or link to another website or Web page." With the right data, a phisher will quickly find a way to commit credit card fraud.

If you think the message might be legitimate or you have concerns about fraud, contact your issuer directly using the customer service phone number on the back of your debit or credit card.