Warning – Phishing Scam
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, phishing scams are traditionally associated with misleading and deceptive emails, falsely claiming to be from a legitimate organization such as a financial institution, business or government agency in an attempt to have you surrender private and personal information.
Scammers are expanding the way they contact consumers. Telemarketing campaigns and text messaging are used increasingly to contact and mislead potential victims into providing their private and financial information. Moreover, some of these unsolicited phishing campaigns are designed to get victims to click on malicious links or attachments that result in the installation of malicious software such as key loggers.
How to protect yourself
· Beware of unsolicited emails, text messages or phone calls from individuals or organizations prompting you to click on an attachment or link.
· Watch for spelling and formatting errors.
· Check the embedded hyperlink in the suspicious email by hovering your mouse over the link to verify the address.
· Do not click on any attachments; they can contain viruses and spyware.
· Go with your gut. If an email seems fishy it probably is.
As you may be aware, the Lewisporte Yacht club does not distribute email with a visible distribution list, nor do we disclose, distribute, or make personal information available in any way. These are just two of the steps that we have taken to protect the privacy of our members. Unfortunately again this year, members of the Club are receiving emails which appear to be from other members of the club prompting them to click on an attachment to make payment on an invoice. These are phishing emails – we strongly advice that you not click on the link, but promptly delete the malicious email.”