Customer Resources

Email is an old technology and it is inherently flawed. Consider following these guidelines to make yourself and your personal information more secure.

General Recommendations:

Passwords: there are two ways to create an email password: 1) use a combination of lower and uppercase characters, special characters (&^%) and numbers; or 2) create a long passphrase (grandmawasbornin1901)

Two email accounts: consider using one email account for family/friends, and another account for all business transactions. Why? Some companies will sell your data, and having a second account limits your exposure

Security Do’s: 1) if you suspect that your account with a business has been compromised, change your email password immediately; 2) change your password from time to time; 3) apply all software updates to your device

Security Don’ts: 1) don’t send sensitive information by email; 2) don’t store sensitive information in cloud services like Evernote and Dropbox; 3) don’t ever give out personal information in response to an email. Call the sender to verify the email.

Consider: using Gmail for your email account(s). It is less susceptible to spam and phishing than yahoo, Hotmail, Frontier, and AOL.

Spam

Definition: Spam is simply unsolicited email sent to a large number of recipients. For example, you book a hotel through hotels.com and suddenly you’re receiving email promotions from hotels.com

Remedy: 1) unsubscribe to company emails (at the bottom of the email you’ll find the unsubscribe function in small print); 2) when you create accounts online, look for settings that allow you to regulate the emails you receive; 3) report the email as spam (you’re email provider will have an easy way to do this); 4) delete emails in your spam/junk folder. Remember first to review all emails in the folder, since some legitimate emails will end up there. When in doubt, report and delete.

Phishing

Definition: The fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from a reputable company in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as password and credit card numbers.

Phishing emails will try to sell you something or gain access to your personal information. Sometimes, the phishing email appears to be from someone you know or from a company you’re doing business with.

Remedy: 1) always check the email address of the sender. If it is unfamiliar, then it is likely spam or phishing; 2) never click on a link or attachment in a suspicious email; 3) use your email provider to report phishing; 4) text or call the individual or company listed as sender to verify the email is legitimate. Do not forward the email before verifying that it is legitimate