Protecting Yourself from “Phishing” and Email Scams

You may have experienced or read about recent incidents of unsolicited email messages masquerading as legitimate enterprises that attempt to trick recipients into disclosing personal and financial information. Phishing or “brand spoofing” is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into disclosing private information. Government, financial institutions and online auctions or pay services are common targets of brand spoofing.

At no time will Ontera request personal or financial information by sending out unsolicited emails. You should never send personal confidential information (usernames and passwords) by email as it is not a secure method of contact.

How The Phishing Scams Work:

A common email scam uses unsolicited email to trick consumers into disclosing confidential personal information. The deceptive email suggests clicking on a link or attachment for any one of the following reasons:

• Change / update personal information
• Possible suspension of service or accounts
• Contests
• After clicking on an attachment or link from the unsolicited email, the user is taken to a bogus site that requests confidential personal information, which could include:
  • Usernames
  • Passwords
  • Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)
  • Credit card numbers
  • Other personal or private Information

How to Identify the Scams:

There are some similarities that can help you identify the scams:

• They are designed to mimic the look and feel of a legitimate website
• They are most commonly sent out through unsolicited emails, containing links or attachments
• The Web address will often have a numeric address or IP address. The address may also include the word, phrase or text ‘Ontera’ to make it appear authentic.

Below is an example of what a “phishing” email might look like:

______________________________________________________________

Verify Your Membership

Dear Value Users,

Suspicious activity has been detected on your email account. To protect your account and our users, your have to verify your membership with Ontera Webmail Click this link below to verify your membership details Verify Membership (this link would take you to a website that would capture your personal information)

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks

______________________________________________________________

Note again that Ontera will never ask for your personal information through email.

If you have any questions, please call our helpdesk at 1-888-5-ONTERA (1-888-566-8372)