Beware of Emails Stating Your Account Has Been Suspended

First and foremost, Simply Web Services will never email a client asking for their password. Second, if you think something is fishy, ask; we are here to answer your questions.

It is nothing new; we all know that cybercriminals love to use phishing emails to impersonate someone and then trick someone else into doing something. One of the most common phishing emails is impersonating your bank. We have seen emails from a “bank” requesting all your information. Or this one from the DMV.

The bad actor will create a realistic website, either cloning your bank’s site or making one that appears to represent your bank. The concept is that you will think it is real and enter your bank username and password. Most of these cybercriminals get too greedy and then ask you for your SSN, driver’s license details, and other information that your bank is unlikely to ask for. They may have you confirm their records, but they will not just ask you for that information out of the blue, and usually tip you off that something isn’t right.

The same trick is often used to mimic your email provider, in hopes of gaining access to your email account and gathering more information they can later use to hack you further.

Normally, this phishing attempt claims that your email provider requires you to change your password immediately due to a major security issue. Then they have you click a button in the email that opens a realistic-looking interface where you can enter your username and password. Then it asks you to change your password. Once they have your email address and password, they have access to your account. Usually, once you “change” your email password, you are directed to a page that mimics a server issue and tells you to try back later.

If Simply Web Services needs you to change your password, the email we send you will include a link to your website with “:2222” appended. That is the same method you use to access your webmail. We will not ask you to send it to us to change. And if we do, we will call you on the phone first. If there is ever an emergency that requires us to change passwords immediately, we will change the password and then try to reach you using your contact information to provide the new password. If you don’t have any other contact information on file with us, please give us a call so we can gather it for you and update our records.

NEVER just blindly enter private details without first verifying what you are doing.

NEVER click on embedded hyperlink text in an email; instead, enter the information manually.

If you have questions on how to access your email or change your password, visit our support page and knowledge base.

If you think your server is offline (and you are an SWS client), check out our off-site support page at sws-stats.com