Email and Phone Security
17-Nov-2009
It's good practice to familiarise yourself with the latest scams and stay abreast of the typical tricks fraudsters use. Some techniques can involve sending hoax emails, SMS or phone calls claiming to be from major Australian banks, Credit Unions, Charities, PayPal and even Service Organisations.
There are 3 simple questions you should ask to help spot a scam:
- Does it instruct you to click on a link or call a number?
- Does it ask for account information?
- Is it unexpected or impersonal in tone? (e.g. Dear Account holder rather than your name).
If you answered yes to any one of these questions be aware it may be a scam. Do not respond directly without verifying the legitimacy of the request by checking the information.
How to Check on Hoax Emails
- If the email is from your Bank call them to check. Most Australian Banks do not send emails to their customers.
- Type in the description (subject) of the email into a google (or other browser search engine) this will usually provide you with details on that specific email being a hoax or not.
- You can do this with sob story emails asking you to pass it on to everyone you know to check its validity, most are harmless however forwarding on emails that have virus’ attached can be harmful to your friends.
How to Protect Yourself from Hoax Emails
- Never reply to a suspect or hoax email.
- Never click on a link on a suspect or hoax email
- If in doubt type the institutions name directly into a new browser to see if the website is legitimate.
- Call the organisation to check if you should have been contacted recently.
- Have a virus check programme installed on your PC and make sure it runs a check every day. You can download a free virus check programme called AVG Free from the internet.
Harbour IT Remote Service
If a Harbour IT Service Technician contacts you regarding a problem you are having make sure of the following:
- They connect to your PC ONLY by asking you to connect to the website www.logmein123.com
- They will then ask you to type in a 6 digit code.
- They will not try to sell you anything.
- You will not experience any virus problems after the connection.