{"id":8691,"date":"2016-12-13T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/?p=8691"},"modified":"2016-12-10T12:38:08","modified_gmt":"2016-12-10T20:38:08","slug":"tis-the-season-for-email-phishing-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/?p=8691","title":{"rendered":"’tis the Season . . . for Email Phishing Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look! An email from FedEx. They tried to deliver a package, but I missed it. Never mind that they normally put a sticker on the door, this is email<\/em>! I suppose I should click a link and then type in my credit card number to ensure delivery . . .
\n
\nDon’t!<\/big><\/p>\n

Seriously, though you may be excited about finally getting that package, the odds are excellent that the message you received is fake. Consider this: No one who sends a package provides the recipient’s email address.<\/p>\n

Think about it! When have you ever sent a package via UPS, FedEx, or even the Post Office and had to fill in an email address? Never!<\/p>\n

When you get an email from one of the major carriers, it should be instantly suspect. Sadly, too few people think rationally, especially when they’re expecting a package anyway.<\/p>\n

In addition to rationalizing whether the email is legitimate, double-check to ensure that the sender’s email address is from fedex.com<\/a> or ups.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don’t just look anywhere in the address: The last part of the address must match the expected domain. For example:<\/p>\n

donotreply@fedex.hacker.com<\/code><\/p>\n

The above is not a FedEx email address. The domain is hacker.com<\/code>, not fedex.com<\/code>.<\/p>\n

I’ve also heard from employees that these services do not send out email. Again, who supplies an email address when sending a parcel?<\/p>\n

Even when you’re certain that the package is legitimate, take the time to go to the web — don’t click the link in the message, but start up the web browser — and visit the website to confirm the tracking number or other details. That way you’re working with the real deal, not some hacker site.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying, but when these phoney messages feature an attachment, do not open the attachment<\/em>! The file is a virus, a hijacking tool, or some other form of malware. If the attachment is a web page document, it’s chock full of Javascript that will do nasty things to your computer when you view the file in a browser. When the attachment is a zip file, it’s most definitely a virus.<\/p>\n

Above all, be smart. The Bad Guys win because you’re quick and careless. Don’t let them win!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before you click on that link . . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8691"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8703,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8691\/revisions\/8703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wambooli.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}