Warning Consumers about Email and Phone Scams, and Phishing

Bogus emails sometimes ask you to open an attachment, enter credit card information or submit personal information, etc.

• Sometimes these emails falsely claim to come to be from someone official at our company
   
• Scams like these are called phishing (derived from the word fishing)
   

How the Scammer makes it Look Official

1. In his email program, the scammer changes his email address to something like staff@company.com, management@company.com, actual.name@company.com or support@company.com or any email that looks like it's official
    
2. The scammer creates an official looking email and sends it to the unsuspecting victim. The email appears at first glance to be official, and probably will contain "urgent" information regarding your account. He's counting on that you will trust it and send him your personal information

Our Company Always Attempts Track Down Scammers

Avoid Falling Victim by Following These Tips

1. Be suspicious of any unsolicited emails asking for personal information, especially when asked by companies or organizations that should already have such information
    
2. Always report fraudulent or suspicious email to our company
    
   • Use the Spam button inside webmail and delete the email
   
   
   • Reporting such instances will help us track down the scammers 
      
3. Make sure you have an updated anti-virus program and a firewall
    
   • A firewall helps prevent unwanted attacks to your computer
      
   • Anti-virus software will protect your computer if you do accidentally open a virus attachment
      

4. For more information, please visit http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/e-scams  

   Our company continues to work to protect our customers from these fraudulent actions

Pop-up Notification - Tech Support Scams

• Scammers can get our IP network name information and other basic information from public directories. They might even guess what computer software you’re using
   
• They often try to gain your trust by pretending to be our company. They may direct you to go to your computer and perform a series of tasks
   
• Once they’ve gained your trust, they may:
   
  • Ask you to give them remote access to your computer and then make changes to your settings that could leave your computer vulnerable
     
  • Ask for credit card information for phony /useless services
     
  • Try to enroll you in a worthless computer maintenance or warranty program
     
  • Trick you into installing malware
     
  • Direct you to websites and ask you to enter your credit card number and other personal information

Avoid Falling Victim by Following These Tips

1. Never give control of your computer to a third party who calls you out of the blue
    
2. Do not rely on caller ID; criminals can fake caller ID numbers (this is called spoofing)
    
   • Callers appear to be calling from a legitimate company or a local number, when they’re not even in the same country as you
      
3. If you need tech support, look for a company’s contact information on their official website, software package, or on your receipt. Do not count on online ads that come up through search results. They may not be legitimate
    
4. Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone who calls and claims to be from tech support, your bank, etc. Contact the company itself to see if the call / email  is legitimate
    
5. If a caller pressures you to buy a computer security product or says there is a subscription fee associated with the call, hang up
    
6. Never give your password on the phone. No legitimate organization calls you and asks for your password
    
7. Put your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, and then report illegal sales calls
    
8. Make sure you have an updated anti-virus program and a firewall
    
   • A firewall helps prevent unwanted attacks to your computer
      
   • Anti-virus software will protect your computer if you do accidentally open a virus attachment

For more information about Internet fraud, please visit https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams  or  https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/on-the-internet

Customer Tips for Telephone Scams

• If you receive an urgent call or email, asking you to call a phone number with an area code you normally don't call, do not make the call
   
  • If you make a call to one of these area codes, you may be dialing into an expensive overseas pay-per-call service, resulting in pricey toll charges on your phone bill
     
  • Examples include: 9-0 or 9-0-0, *72 or 1172, 0 or 011, 809, 284, 649, 876 or other unfamiliar area codes, numbers preceded by #, any 11-digit number
    
     
• If someone calls to tell you a family member was in an accident, and to hang up and call *72 and a specific number to get more information, do not make the call
   
  • Dialing *72 and the number forwards your phone calls to that phone number
     
  • Once your calls are forwarded, others can make calls from your phone number including toll calls that will appear on your phone bill
     
  • If you think you have fallen victim to this scam, dial *73 and listen for two short tones to tell you the forwarding is deactivated

If You’ve Responded to a Scam

1. Get rid of the malware. Update or download legitimate security software and scan your computer.  Delete anything it identifies as a problem
    
2. Change any passwords that you gave out. If you use these passwords for other accounts, change those accounts, too
    
3. If you paid for bogus services with a credit card, call your credit card provider and ask to reverse any bogus charges and cancel your credit card 
    
4. If you think  your personal or financial information has been taken, visit the FTC’s identity theft website. You can minimize your risk of further damage and repair any problems already in place 
    
5. File a complaint with the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint