Phishing Email
Below is an em
ail recently received by a client. The client contacted us to see if it was legitimate before clicking on any links. It was a good thing she did! This email was not from us and turned out to be a phishing email attempting to steal information or download malicious software on her computer.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
From: E-mail Administrator [mailto:admin@admin.srvr.com]
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2017 12:51 PM
To: admin@admin.com
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam]Your E-mail Account closure Notification
Dear Email Client,
You have exhausted the space 5GB Bandwidth of your email account and for this reason some of your incoming mails with files is placed pending.
Kindly Click on the link below to complete the upgrade on your account in order to Receive your pending mails and enjoy full features and efficient e-mail service delivery.
Click Here TO UPGRADE and add more Bandwidth to your mailbox.
Once the information provided matches the records on our database, your account will function normal again.
Sincerely,
Email Service Team
——————————————————————————————————————————————
What makes this email suspicious?
- “From:” email is not from our email system
- “To:” is not addressed to their domain email address
- Typos and grammar mistakes
- Hovering over the link revealed a suspicious URL (link deactivated in this post)
- Signature is “Email Service Team” not a Webtivity signature
Unfortunately with the convenience of the internet comes criminals and risk. Identity thieves have become very clever and good at impersonating companies we trust. Here are some tips:
- Don’t assume that because it has a bank or company logo or looks like one your received previously that it is a legitimate email
- Look at the to and from email addresses
- Look for typos and grammatical errors
- Hover over (do not click) any links and look at the bottom left corner of your browser to see where the links go. Best practice is not to use the email links and to log into your account as you normally do and interact that way.
- Do not send personal information including credit card information by email
- If an email is at all suspicious, contact the company using the contact information you have on file. DO NOT use the contact information in the suspicious email as it too is probably bogus