Phishing Awareness

Cybercriminals are out there attempting to steal your personal and account information. Below are some practical and helpful tips for sniffing out the bait to avoid being a victim of phishing.

 

Phishing Defined

Phishing is a technique used by cybercriminals to disguise themselves in emails as legitimate and real companies you may do business with every day. Often these emails are not caught by spam filters, and instead end up in your email inbox. Here are some things to lookout for. Here are some examples of phishing emails:

• These emails will request you to update or to verify your personal and financial information, login information, account details, credit card numbers, PIN numbers, etc.
• You may be requested to click on a link or open an attachment to confirm these details or read important information
• In some cases, merely opening the email can launch malware to your computer
• The link, the attachment, the website you are being directed to are phony and may even download malware onto your computer which will record your future use of the Internet and forward even more information to the cyber-criminal

 

Quick Tip: The sender’s email address may be very similar to the company’s email address they are trying to portray. Verify the email address, its spelling and all legal company information.

 

Be careful. Be skeptical. Do not click. Most importantly, know this: Viewpost will NEVER send you an email requesting any personal information, asking you to disclose your username, password, social security number, credit card or debit card, financial information, or other personal information (mother’s maiden name, place of birth, etc.).

 

How to Protect Yourself from Phishing

While the tactics and attacks of the cybercriminal vary and are constantly evolving, we have some prudent measures that help you better secure your information:

• Never reply to email with your personal information, password, or account information
• Protect your computer and other electronic devices with anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and regularly clean your computer and update the software to the latest version

Learn to recognize the characteristics of a phishing email. They most likely contain the following:

• Overly urgent messages in the email subject line
• Request for action stated in the subject line
• Misspellings and other typographical errors
• Poor grammar
• Random symbols or characteristics in the subject line or body
• Distorted or low-resolution logo

If you’re suspicious about the legitimacy of an email you receive regarding your Viewpost account, don’t click on any links or attachments in the email. Instead:

• Call us at 888.248.9190
• To contact us online, type our website into your browser rather than by clicking the link within the email

 

Helpful Resources

For more information about increasing phishing awareness, visit the following resources:

• Anti-Phishing Working Group
• OnGuardOnline
• Internet Crime Complaint Center