Phishing Emails

 Phishing emails are described as unwanted emails that try to acquire information from you such as names, passwords, credit card information, etc. They look as if they are trustworthy but they are not. The name of the game is to separate you from your money. The email may contain a message that invites you to click on a link imbedded in the message of the email. If you are a customer of JP Morgan/Chase you may be concerned because it looks legitimate. Even if you are not these types of emails are sent with the major banking names in the message. The number of emails sent with various bank names almost guarantee that someone will invariably click the link. Below is an example of a phishing email.

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THIS IS AN AUTOMATED EMAIL – PLEASE DO NOT REPLY.
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Dear customer,
We received a request from 76.121.131.2 to reset your password for your Bank Account at Chase.
We regret to inform you that your Chase account has been temporarily locked.
Your account has been suspended after too many failed login attempts have been made.

You may click on the link below to reactivate your account:

http://chaseonline.chase.com.agreement.from-mo.com/ma/index.php?id=44024@comcast.net

We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again in the future.

Best regards,
2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co.
28255-0001

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If you were to click on the above link, the site to which you will be directed will try to download malware into your computer. If you enter your private information at this malware site, you will be faced with the additional problem of having an infected computer. If you made the mistake of doing this, first turn off your computer and then contact all of your financial institutions to notify them that your accounts may be jeopardized. Next, disconnect your computer from the Internet by removing the cable going to the modem or router, or by turning off the wireless switch if using a laptop. Next you need to turn the computer back on and do a full scan with your anti-virus program. Hopefully, you will be able to remove any unwanted malware.

Keeping your computer in tip-top shape and preventing problems that may arise are two very important tasks that you need to do. First, perform the required maintenance once a month and also perform a security scan with an up-to-date anti-virus program 3 times a month. If you do these routines faithfully you will more than likely extend the life of your PC but, more importantly, you will have a reliably operating computer. I recommend two free programs to insure the security of your computer: Avast Antivirus and Malwarebytes. These can be downloaded from www.cnet.com. Be sure to uninstall any previously installed security software first then install your new downloaded programs. You will enjoy equal protection and a faster computer for free!

Be sure to attend our PC Club meetings to get more details on the above subjects. We are now using our new overhead projector and screen. We meet the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Ardmore room of the Community Center.

Don Trauger – Kennett