Common Phishing scams

During these difficult time, attackers; preying on our anxieties and hunger for news, have ramped up social engineering and phishing attacks.

These emails claim to originate from

• A colleague or somebody you communicate on a regular basis

• Your Email Service provider informing you that your mailbox will be locked

• A local Politician, giving you the option to subscribe to his/hers breaking news email list
We got one from a Congressman from Illinois. Interestingly a few years back we did work for a company in his district, corresponding with them for over a year.

• Government Agencies , CDC , WHO claiming to have breaking news

• Monthly payment companies like utility, mortgage, Cable, Mobile etc. with offers to defer payment, or payment plans.

The above is not an all-inclusive list. Moreover, you can expect a surge of emails related to the Stimulus Package.
Additionally, there is a rising number of coronavirus-related scam sites selling fake cures, fake vaccines, or sites peddling malware disguised as coronavirus-related apps. On March 20th New York Attorney General Letitia James sent open letters to six of the Internet’s largest registrars asking them to deploy countermeasures.

What can you do?

If you are working remotely. DO NOT BROWSE the Internet on the computer in the Office. If it gets infected you could bring the whole network down and there is NOBODY in the Office to take action.
Avoid opening attachments you weren’t expecting, or from people you don’t know well. Especially pdf files or sound files. But not limited to just that. When in doubt ask us.
Avoid opening links in email or browsing smaller personal websites, blogs etc.
If a website or application asks you to update your information or install an application, DO NOT do it.
If you believe an email is genuine, do not click on the link, for major organizations search for their website in a search engine and navigate from there. For anything else, send us a new email informing us about the email.

What do I do if I get infected?

Shut down your computer immediately, if need be, brutally, by pulling the power cord. Do not waste time closing applications & shutting down gracefully.

Call &/or email Lansend at the regular Service desk to inform us.

First published in 2020-27-03 Bulletin