When Notification Emails Get It Right
Home Help Center When Notification Emails Get It Right
For years, fraud experts have warned consumers about phishing attempts that try to steal money and identifying information. As people have become more aware of the threat, scammers have had to up the stakes in order to trick users into downloading malicious content to their computers or hand over their sensitive information. One common approach is the “there’s something wrong with your account” email. These messages appear to come from a well-known company. It might claim your account has been suspended due to strange activity, an order you placed (or possibly didn’t place) is not shipping due to a problem with your credit card, or any other plausible scenario. The goal is to get you to click the link and submit personal information, such as login credentials, passwords or credit card info. So how is a company supposed to inform you when there really is an issue with your account? A good example may be the one below: The email informed the recipient of the need to take action on their account by exiting the message and logging in to the account themselves. Rather than the common ploy of having the victim click a button that supposedly redirects to their account, this message plays it safe: Leave this email, go to your account, login for yourself, and make sure your information is accurate. Also, further below, there is a support number to call for help. That can be indicative of a scam, though, so beware; numerous scams have included phone numbers to call that simply redirect to the scammers, so anyone receiving this email should verify the phone number before calling. However, the information the recipient needs is laid out quite clearly in the email, and hopefully, no further support is even required. At first glance, this email could look and sound just like any other phishing email, but the difference is in the action the recipient is to take. Instead of falling into a potential trap, the reader is only told to do the very same activity they would do if they had not received the message, namely, log into their account and make sure their profile is up-to-date.
Contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for toll-free, no-cost assistance at (888) 400-5530. For on-the-go assistance, check out the free ID Theft Help App from ITRC.
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