Typos and Phishing – Poorly Managed Emails Have Consequences

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By Patty P. Tehrani
Founder, Policy Patty Toolkit
ptprep66@yahoo.com

One billion Yahoo accounts are hacked and a typo may have led to the email hack that plagued Hillary Clinton’s campaign through its final months. These matters give us a chance to re-visit phishing scams and what we can do to help prevent or better manage them. While changing, passwords is a prudent first step other steps are needed to avoid giving hackers the valuable personal information they seek. Below are some measures to consider.

What is Phishing?
First, let’s be clear on what phishing is. Phishing emails are fraudulent emails that:

  • appear to come from legitimate sources (e.g., banks, brokers, credit cards, and other service providers);
  • direct recipients to a website or to divulge personal information (e.g., SSN, account numbers or other non-public information); and
  • include a sense of urgency for action.

Once the scammers get the requested information they use it to commit identity theft.

Safeguards Against Phishing Scams

While organizations have implemented various measures to fight against phishers, recent cases demonstrate that these are not full proof. Here are some measures you or your organizations can implement to protect against phishing.

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