Following last week’s devastating fire that destroyed much of the famous and historically important Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, fundraising efforts have begun. Many generous people may decide to donate money toward rebuilding efforts – and scammers know that. They’re ready to take donations, too, so here are some things to consider before you give to an organization or a crowdfunding project:
- Research the organization first. Search online for the name of the organization plus the word “complaint” or “scam.” Read what others say the about the organization. These organizations can also help your research.
Recent Local Spearphishing Attacks
Over the recent week, Cornell and other companies and organizations have been hit with several spearphishing attacks. As you might expect, Cornell is a constant target for nefarious attacks (as are most large institutions), however this one has hit a large number of "Cornell.edu" email accounts. And over the last 24 hours, we've been made aware of several other attacks as well.
What makes this attack particularly challenging, is that the Sender and Subject appear to be legitimate.
However, once the email is opened the content reads something like:
READ THIS MESSAGE (in a clickable banner)
05:59:47 (Cornell)
Re: "Subject"
Watch before: Thursday
If you clicked on the banner, you are taken to a page with a legitimate company logo - the one we looked at (safely) had the Xerox Logo with lines requesting our Xerox Login Name and Password.
IF YOU OPEN THIS EMAIL, DO NOT CLICK ON THE BANNER AND ABSOLUTELY DO NOT FILL IN ANY LOGIN OR PASSWORD INFORMATION!
Reasons for Company Executives to Take Security Training
We read about this all to often - a top executive at small and not so small organizations get scammed or spoofed into providing critical company information or make payments that are not legitimate. Of course we also see other employees getting tricked as well.
For most companies the individuals at the top actually pose the most risk, due to having the most access to sensitive information and critical systems. They need to be the most aware, but when we and others conduct security awareness training, some executives and organizations leaders are noticably absent!
Dealing with spam text messages
We find that spam text messages seem to come in waves. Just when you think that you've got them totally blocked, a new batch shows up. Like spam emails, it's a constant battle to keep these unwanted texts off of your smartphones.
They’re about as welcome as robot calls and junk mail — spam text messages.
They show up as unwanted and unexpected text messages on our phone screens. That’s aggravating enough, but it gets worse. Whoever is sending you a spam text message is usually trying to defraud you.
Most spam text messages aren’t coming from another phone. They’re usually originating from a computer and being delivered to your phone — at no cost to the sender — via an email address or an instant messaging account.
Don’t despair. There are steps you can take to reduce unwanted text messages and help prevent them from showing up on your phone and other mobile devices.
Is that Website you are on Safe?
Not all websites are safe. Scamsters will copy popular website home pages to try and trick people into clicking. Some of those clicks are relatively benign; they just take you to a sales site while others are truly malicious and can literally take control of your computer and your systems. Here's a review of good practices to keep that from happening.
Would it surprise you to learn that there are over 4 billion internet users in 2018? With over half of the population around the world now surfing the net, there may be an increased opportunity for malware attacks by those with malicious intent. As internet scams continue to evolve, it’s important to make sure the websites you visit don’t pose a threat.
Arm yourself with knowledge to help you avoid potentially dangerous sites by familiarizing yourself with these three red flags.
1. Odd-looking domain names
Let’s say you get an email from your bank. At least, it looks just like the emails your bank sends, addressing you by your full name. The email presents an offer you’d like to explore. Naturally, there are a couple of links and a big button making it easy for you to reach the right page in one click.
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