Tis the season for lots of emails sharing news of sales, specials and fantastic deals. But are they all on the up-and-up? It鈥檚 easy to overlook phishing emails, and possible you might accidently click on a link that could cause trouble. If you鈥檙e suspicious 鈥 good! A healthy dose of distrust can be healthy, especially when dealing with emails and texts you鈥檙e just not sure about.
What exactly is phishing?
Email phishing tricks readers into clicking on links that either download malicious software to their computer, or capture user names, passwords and other personal information to illegally access personal or financial accounts.
One way to suspect a phishing email is if it is filled with grammatical and spelling errors. Other clues are offers for unbelievably great deals, free money, technology or travel. Phishing emails have also figured out how to target children who use email and the internet with attractive offers of free toys, games, technology, talent scouting for Hollywood or scholarship scams.
What do I do if I suspect this is a phishing email?
Do NOT click on any links in the email, even if it says it鈥檚 from your mother.
Do NOT supply any personal information such as user names, passwords, account numbers, etc.
Mark the email as spam if your email program has that option. Then delete it or you can report it to one of these sites:
- National Consumers League at Fraud.org:
- Better Business Bureau:
- If the email is spoofing (pretending to be) a company you work with, report it to that company. Many companies offer a special website or email address to forward phishing emails to. This helps them identify potential threats to their customers and formulate ways to protect them from more.
- If the email says it鈥檚 from 乐播传媒 and you are suspicious of its validity, please call us at (800) 982-7675, option 1, and we鈥檒l help.
Oops, I clicked on a phishing link. Now what?
Uh oh, you鈥檝e been phished! Don鈥檛 worry, you鈥檙e not alone. If you accidently clicked on a link, here鈥檚 a few actions you can take to protect yourself:
Turn on multifactor authentication: Many online services now offer customers the ability to turn on multifactor authentication. This means that when you log in from a computer they don鈥檛 recognize, you鈥檒l have a one-time code texted to your phone you can use to verify that it is you. While it may seem like an extra step, use this service, it鈥檚 a great way to stop someone from breaking into your accounts using passwords they may have just stolen from you.
Change your passwords: If you鈥檝e been phished, change your passwords to something you have never used before. Make your password long and distinctive. Good password behavior and diligence using your accounts is the best thing you can do to protect yourself. For tips on creating strong passwords, check out this article on our blog: 鈥How to Create Strong Passwords.鈥
Check accounts regularly: Review bank and credit card accounts regularly for suspicious activity. If you see unauthorized charges freeze or cancel your cards and let the bank know what happened so they can put further protections in place.
Notify credit agencies: If any of your financial accounts might have been hacked, contact one of the three major credit bureaus as soon as possible to place a fraud alert until the issue has been resolved.
Phishing tactics just keep getting smarter, so it鈥檚 important to keep yourself educated and aware of these issues. If you are a 乐播传媒 customer, we鈥檇 like you to know that we will never sends emails to our customers asking for sensitive information. For any questions about 乐播传媒 account security or help with passwords give us a call at (800) 982-7675 or 1 (888) 4-SOFTCOM, we鈥檙e here to help.