Start the New Year Right! Think Email Safe!
Recently, emails have been hitting mailboxes that are far from benign. Following are two such emails seemingly, coming from reputable companies…
… BUT ARE THEY????
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Verizon email Moving to AOL – Be Prepared!
So, you have probably heard through that pesky grapevine… Verizon is no longer going to be supporting or hosting email, the company will be having it hosted by AOL within the next couple of weeks. When logging into the webmail.verizon.net there will be an “Email service notice“. Click on “Keep verizon.net email address” or “Use any other email provider” to complete the setup. There will be no action to take until you receive an email service notice from them. Through all of the shuffling, it may have been missed, AOL is a Verizon company. Verizon is looking to put their focus on their FIOS and phone markets.
Does this mean my Email is going away?
No, once you have received this notice.. you will probably say… AOL? WHAT??!! Do I need to find one of those diskettes they sent me through the mail in 1990… so what do I do next?
There are a few options, hold on..
- Follow the directions and forward your email to AOL and continue from there. In this scenario, you will keep your Verizon.net email, while navigating the AOL Mail website.
- Do nothing and let that email account fade to digital dust
- Set up an Office 365 account and have all of your emails forward through one account, making it MUCH easier for you! (We can actually do this for you at Sandra Network!)
Not sure WHAT to do?
There are still a lot of options; these are but a few. If you are still unsure what your next steps should be you should give us a call at 978-535-0202 or email us at [email protected] and we will walk you through or set you up with the correct options just for you!
I won’t click on random or suspicious links
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Fake | Spoofing | Virus-filled | Identity-stealing | Hacking | Phishing Emails. So how do you know?
Fake emails and websites will try to look like a real company’s email: all for the purpose of stealing your personal information. Passwords and account numbers are the favorite to grab, but sometimes to simply track your browsing habits and send information to the criminal’s web site. Hence it is important to check shortened links that come in emails to ensure more safety.
EBay, PayPal, Amazon are some of the favorites to spoof, because they are such common web sites. If you are getting emails from a web site like those mentioned, and you are not sure, then close the email. Open a browser, and login to the web site directly. Any email that came to you should be mentioned somewhere in the notifications area. The good news is a lot of the emails come from out of country, and the wording of the emails are sometimes a giveaway. Check for proper use of grammar and spelling. Really look at the logo in the email – is it pixelated? Or, does it look as clean as the ones on the web site.
How to tell if the link in the email is safe without clicking on it
Use a link scanner
Link scanners are web sites and plug-ins that allow you to enter in the URL of suspicious link and check it for safety. URLVoid is a really good one, because it uses multiple services to research.
In order to copy the link safely, without clicking on it, you can right click on the link and choose copy shortcut (IE), Copy Link (Firefox) or Copy Link Address (Chrome). You can paste this into the Link Scanner utility.
Check Shortened Links
URLVoid can’t handle shortened URLS from services like tinyURL or Bitly, Ow.ly. To check shortened links that you usually find on services like Twitter, you can use Sucuri. It will expand the shortened links and check it against a variety of services to ensure no threats are pending. In order to copy the link safely, without clicking on it, you can right click on the link and choose copy shortcut (IE), Copy Link (Firefox) or Copy Link Address (Chrome). You can paste this into the Link Scanner utility.
Hover over the link
If you hover over a link without clicking on it, you will see the full URL pop up with the links destination in the lower corner of your browser.
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I won’t click on any emails unless I know who it is from
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Are you surprised that Great Aunt Mildred is actually on email? Well, most likely she isn’t, and you are being scammed. Is it unusual that your Help Desk department just sent out a coupon for a great deal? If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is an email scam.
Typically, if the email is from a scam artist, known as a “fake” email, the sender will try to make sure the email comes from a real company. They are really meant to get you to click on them and share personal information. The real key is in the email headers. Where email headers are found varies based on the email program you are using. In Gmail it’s under Show original. In Outlook you can find it in various places, depending on the version. Most recently, it is in File – Properties.
click to see sample of header
The headers should be read from the bottom to the top. Each server that handled your email is listed, with its own message, starting with Received. For example:
To find the REAL sender of your email, you have to find the earliest trusted gateway, which would be at the top. You can trust it if it lists the mail server for the domain in question. So, if it is from [email protected], you will see SandraNetwork.com. If you’re really unsure, you can run a query from a utility like MXToolbox. If this is above your technical interest or ability, simply consulting with your IT person is the best idea. The best thing to do is copy and paste the headers into an email to IT and your answer should be quickly answered!
Fake emails also usually have
the following properties:
Urgent tones. If it is threating to suspend your account, ruin your credit, delete all your data. Especially if you do not respond right away.
Asking for an immediate reply with confidential information. Anyone legitimate would not ask for confidential information in an email.
Generic greetings. Most companies that you have accounts with personalize emails to you with your first and / or last name.
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