What to do about Email/Internet Scams and Phishing?
Stop and think when you receive an unexpected email message:
Do not reply or click on links nor provide personal, login or or banking information after receiving an request, even from an email address or from person you know.
The most common Email Internet scams are phishing/spoofing and Nigerian type scam letters.
Our SPAM filter is trained to recognize and should filter those efficiently, either blocking them or quarantining them.
However, it may happen to let one slip through to your email account.
We encourage you to forward those emails to spamreports@his.com as attachments so we can use them to improve our spam filters.
We hope you do not reply nor provide personal or banking information after receiving such a request.
If you did or just wish to file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), go to:
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Report phishing messages to:
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Homeland Security US-CERT: https://www.us-cert.gov/report-phishing
Nigerian Letter or "419"
- If the "opportunity" appears too good to be true, it probably is.
- Do not reply to emails asking for personal banking information.
- Be wary of individuals representing themselves as foreign government officials.
- Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
- Beware when asked to assist in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts.
- Do not believe the promise of large sums of money for your cooperation.
- Guard your account information carefully.
- Be cautious when additional fees are requested to further the transaction.
Phishing/Spoofing
- Be suspicious of any unsolicited email requesting personal information.
- Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal information.
- Always compare the link in the email to the link that you are actually directed to.
- Log on to the official website, instead of "linking" to it from an unsolicited email.
- Contact the actual business that supposedly sent the email to verify if the email is genuine.
More at: http://www.ic3.gov/faq/default.aspx
