Be Aware of Suspicious Emails & Phishing
We are all familiar with the dark practices of scammers. Not only do they reach out to us by phone, but they may also try to capture your information and payment information by email.
At SPPD, we have online portals in place to provide convenience and options for account access for our customers–you might know this as “SmartHub”. Many communications from that portal are provided to you through electronic mail, so it is important for you to recognize when an email is coming to you from a fraudulent source.
Phishing is an attempt to seek out, steal or compromise data. Email phishers often disguise themselves as someone you know. They may offer a financial reward, threaten you or claim to need help. In their efforts, they will ask you for personal information. They may also ask you to download a file or click a link.
Some of the most common red flags for suspicious emails include:
- The email is unexpected.
- There is a sense of urgency conveyed.
- There is an offer that seems too good to be true.
- There are typos and misspellings.
To help avoid becoming a victim:
- Don’t reveal your personal or financial information, and don’t respond to email solicitations for this information.
- Try to contact the company directly, rather than interacting with the email. In other words, if you receive an email claiming to be a collector for SPPD bill payments, do not click any links. Contact us directly by phone to verify the status of your account.
- Keep a clean machine. Keep all your software on internet-connected devices up to date to reduce the risk of infection from malware.
If you have been victimized:
- Report it to the organization the scammer was claiming to be, to alert them of the activity.
- Contact your financial institution immediately.
- Watch for any unauthorized charges to your account.
- Consider reporting the attack to local law enforcement.
Source: National CyberSecuirty Alliance.
