One of our clients was at seminar last weekend and received an email that appeared to be from someone she knew.
The “from line” included the name of a familiar business associate, while the “email address line” was the associate’s regular domain (example: @dallaspartnerit.com). The subject was “View This Document,” which wasn’t suspicious to her because they are doing business together.
Our client opened the email from her phone and clicked on the link to open the document. She was prompted for her Google password, which she put in the login box.
She was, in technical terms, “phished” or “spoofed.” She gave hackers access to her Google accounts, which included all of her contacts. Within a matter of minutes, her contacts were getting the same message. Those who clicked and signed in to the fake login page gave away their credentials as well.
Be careful of a few things:
Beware of clicking links inside an email. We recommend that you hover over the link and look at the URL of the link before clicking.
If you receive an email with a subject line like “Documents,” “View These Documents” or “View This,” be suspicious. It is most likely a hoax.
If you show up at a login screen, it’s typically bad news. In this case, the client was checking her mail via Google, so why would Google ask her to log in again?
One easy tip to prevent phishing or spoofing.
We recommend a two-step verification for email. In her case, we set up a two-step authentication for Google and Gmail. This process will protect her across all of her devices, as she regularly depends on her iPad, iPhone and laptop computer.
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Fred Givhan
(Formerly Direct Connect Computer Troubleshooters)
Owner
3407 McFarlin Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75205
214-363-6013
www.dallaspartnerit.com | support@dallaspartnerit.com