8 ways to stay cybersafe

#5. Beware of phishing, smishing, phone scams, and spam email 

Cyber criminals are always developing new tactics to get personal data through emails and phone calls. A good measure of common sense is needed when a scam presents itself and always trust your gut. If it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Here a few things to know:

What is phishing?

A phishing attack is an online fraud technique that involves sending official- looking email messages with return addresses and links that appear legitimate. Some can contain hyperlinks to fake websites where fraudsters attempt to get financial or login info such as account numbers, PINs, credit card numbers, etc. The stolen data may be used to gain access to financial accounts or make fraudulent purchases. Tips to help stay on top of phishing and scams:

• Watch for emails claiming to be from the U.S. government.
• Be suspicious of any emails or links from sources you don’t recognize.
• Be suspicious of anyone who calls or emails impersonating a customer, agent or advisor asking for personal data in the hope of gaining access to unauthorized accounts.
• Anyone claiming to be from Voya calling from an anonymous line or “spoofing” a customer or Voya number. Voya will never ask you for your personal information by email.
• Make sure your anti-malware and anti-virus software is up-to-date.
• Anyone asking you to share and/or confirm confidential customer or employee information.
• Referring to you by name as a way to personalize the conversation and reinforce the scam.
• Injecting a sense of urgency, fear or guilt that you will be reprimanded if you don’t immediately without question, comply with their requests.

A few email subject line examples of phishing that play on emotions:

• Your account has been locked!
• You’ve been selected!
• Act now!
• You’ve won!

Tips to identify Phishing emails:

• Look for misspellings and grammatical errors.
• Pay attention to email signatures that do not match senders address.
• Email creates a call for action/sense of urgency/emotion.
• Hyperlinks have unknown web address.
• “From” email address is not a standard looking address or is masked to appear to be legitimate. You can right click on the sender to unmask/reveal the email address.

See something suspicious? Act with caution

• Never enter your username or password into unknown websites.
• Do not click on any unknown links or open any attachments.
• Delete the suspicious email from all mailbox folders.
• Go directly to your account website to login and access messages.
• Call the company to confirm the legitimacy of the email.
• Use a spam filter to avoid seeing these messages.
• Never respond to a spam message; your email address is recorded as live and the spam will increase.
• Should you read a spam message remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you received unsolicited email offers or spam, send the messages to spam@uce.gov.

What is smishing?

Smishing is a cyberattack where scammers target individuals through SMS (commonly known as text) messages. The strange-sounding name is a merger of “SMS” and “phishing.” The goal of a smishing attack, as with most forms of social engineering, is to trick victims into taking certain actions that will benefit the scammer. In most cases, this involves giving away personal or financial information. 

Here are the types of smishing examples to look out for:

1. Delivery notification and package-tracking smishing
   • Common during holidays or sales events
   • Scam texts from FedEx, UPS or USPS about delivery issues
   • Aim to trick you into clicking harmful links or giving personal info
2. Financial services smishing scams
   • Target bank and credit card users
   • Pose as legitimate banks to steal sensitive data
   • Often send fraud alerts to prompt clicking malicious links or calling fake numbers
3. Confirmation smishing scams
   • Fake confirmation requests for orders, appointments, or invoices
   • Directs to sites asking for login credentials or sensitive data
4. Customer support smishing scams
   • Pose as trusted companies, not just banks
   • Notify of account issues and direct to fake sites with spyware
5. Gift or giveaway smishing scams
   • Offer free gifts or fake contest giveaways
   • Links lead to malware-infected sites

Smishing attack warning signs:

• Suspicious phone numbers
• Misspelled words or grammatical errors
• Links and files from unknown numbers
• Urgent requests
• Money requests
• Prize notifications for contests you didn’t enter

What to do:

• Do not send personal information via text
• Inspect new phone numbers
• Avoid clicking suspicious links or files
• Contact the business directly to verify texts
• Never respond to smishing texts
• Use two-factor authentication
• Download antivirus software

#6. Bank, shop and spend wisely:

• Cancel your unused credit cards so that the account numbers will not appear on your credit report.
• Sign your credit cards immediately with SEE ID for merchants to confirm your identity.
• Do business with companies you know are reputable, particularly when making online transactions.
• Use a secure browser when you conduct business online that encrypts or scrambles purchase information. Customers can verify that the web page they are entering is secure by looking for the https:// on every page to ensure your entire session is encrypted — not just the login page.
• Avoid opening emails from unknown sources.
• Ask businesses about its privacy policies and how information is used.

#7. Protect yourself from mail fraud:

• Remove posted mail, especially bills, from your home mailbox every day. Signing up for electronic statements and paying bills online can help you reduce the chance of someone stealing information from your home mailbox.
• Know your billing cycles. Follow-up with creditors if bills or new cards don’t arrive on time. An identity thief may have filed a change of address request in your name with the creditor or the post office.
• Shred receipts and mail, especially pre-approved credit card applications.
• Eliminate the receipt of pre-approved offers of credit by calling 1-888-5-OPT-OUT.
• Account for all new checks when you receive them in the mail.
• Remove your name from direct mail lists and write to the companies you do business with and ask them not to sell or rent your name. You can visit the Direct Marketing Association’s website to learn about laws that protect you and how to get your name removed from these lists.