Saved

…or I was the subject of a scam from hell and won.

Email. Whip through it and get out the door for a walk. That’s the resolution. I can do it.

There’s the bill from my ISP.

Whoops. Next email in the inbox there’s an official notice to upgrade my credit card information. Hello? Why? You know I am slow. I know I am slow. If the two items hadn’t been in my inbox right there side by side, perhaps I would have upgraded my CC info right there and then.

“One of us OD Diarists recently went through all this,” said a small memory.

I pulled out my wallet and laid a credit card in front of the keyboard.

Don’t click that word here!!!! Something in me yelled.

Then I had another one of those flashback moments. My ISP Support button invariably leads me in a circle. Use that 1-800 number I have stashed for important moments like these. I could do this. Watch me….and it told me to go to the support page, to the right hand upper corner where I could verify the email site. Warily I went back to the support page. Is it real? I found a link that was truly useful.

No the email wasn’t real. What was real was the scam.

My ISP support site offers a link to the following article which I found interesting.

Recently, many Internet users, including my ISP subscribers, have received fraudulent emails requesting sensitive personal information. The emails may instruct you to submit information by fax, email or on a fraudulent website that looks just like the legitimate one it’s posing as.

These emails are fake and set up by criminals to steal your personal information.

Avoiding Scams:

“The best way to avoid getting these emails is to use proprietary spam blockers. These will block virtually 100% of spam by only delivering to your inbox emails that come from people in your address book.

General Tips:

Since hackers can easily provide you with a link that actually takes you to another website, you should always either type in the website name directly into the URL, or verify that the link takes you to the website you intended. Your best bet would be to go directly to the purported company’s account maintenance website in order to update your account information.

You should NEVER put your password, credit card, secret word or PIN into an email.

Note: If you think you may already have submitted sensitive information in response to one of these fraudulent emails, please contact your bank and/or credit card company immediately.

Recognizing Legitimate ISP Requests:

Most requests from your ISP will direct you to update your personal information at: http://myaccount.yourisp.net. However, there are a few exceptions.

If you receive another request appearing to come from your ISP, and are not sure if it’s legitimate, you can easily determine if it’s a valid Yourisp website at: http://support.yourisp.net.

Below are some legitimate requests that may come from your ISP:
• Your ISP may ask you to put the following information into an email: contact information (name, address, phone, etc.) or the new expiration date of your credit card (WITHOUT the card number itself).
• Our phone system, call center representatives or online live chat representatives may ask for your Password, Secret Word, PIN or credit card number in order to verify your identity as the account owner, update your account or help troubleshoot a problem.
• Your ISP may ask you to update your password in your connection software or e-mail program.
Recently, many Internet users, including your ISP subscribers, have received fraudulent emails requesting sensitive personal information. The emails may instruct you to submit information by fax, email or on a fraudulent website that looks just like the legitimate one it’s posing as.

These emails are fake and set up by criminals to steal your personal information.

Getting Help:

If you receive a fraudulent email, you can forward it directly to your ISP abuse group. Additional questions about fraudulent e-mails can also be submitted to your ISP abuse group by visiting your ISP support site. Most support pages have live chat, or phone your ISP support line for more information before giving out any credit card information via email.