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BrandProtect Offers Ten Tips to Avoid Being Targeted by Email Scams
Leading Online Brand Protection Company Leverages Expertise to Provide Ways to Avoid Having Your Email Compromised
| Source: BrandProtect
TORONTO--(Marketwire - June 4, 2007) - Phishers continue to find ways to circumvent
anti-phishing technology as approximately 1.07 percent of all emails
contain some form of phishing attack or scam, according to a study issued
in January 2007 by MessageLabs. These messages can occur in the form of
'spoof' emails that lead consumers to counterfeit Web sites designed to
trick them into divulging financial data such as credit card numbers or
other sensitive account information, or even chain emails sent
illegitimately from a user's email to those on their address list. To help
protect email account holders from being targeted by these types of email
scams, BrandProtect, the industry leader in online brand protection, today
announced the top ten ways to avoid having an email account compromised.
"With the growing complexity of online fraud and brand abuse on the
Internet, it has become increasingly difficult for consumers and email
account holders to identify fraudulent mail and they are often times
subject to attack simply by opening the email," said Hugh Hyndman, CTO,
BrandProtect. "BrandProtect analysts are experts in identifying and taking
down online threats and are able to apply this expertise to provide a list
of preventative measures to help avoid being a victim of online attacks."
"Ten Tips to Avoid Email Attacks"
1. Avoid entering in your email address on any mass email sites. For
example: newsletters, "Joke of the Day" emails and coupon distributions.
2. Do not click on unknown emails you receive. Spam emails can contain
reply scripts that inform spammers that your email account is active -- and
that you click on links!
3. Stay clear of chain emails and do not reply to any you receive. Often
times, these can be illegitimately sent from an email account address book.
4. Avoid publicly listing your email address on any Internet forums.
5. Do not participate in sending any mass forwarded emails. You don't
know who your email address can be passed along to in the chain.
6. Set up a spam filter that will weed out emails with malicious coding.
7. Use an alternate email address for your banking information that you do
not share elsewhere. This will help you to avoid confusion when receiving
inbound emails regarding banking accounts and also better protect your
personal information.
8. Use a separate low-limit credit card for online transactions. If the
information is 'hijacked' somehow, there is low credit limit to which
fraudulent charges can be made.
9. Avoid the checkboxes during any online transaction. These boxes are
often pre-selected, including your email on a mailing distribution or
permitting it to be 'shared.'
10. Be proactive and stay aware of current email scams. Many
organizations and IT publications report on current trends and spreading
emails scams.
To learn more about how to protect your personal information and/or brand
from online infractions, please visit: www.brandprotect.com.
About BrandProtect (www.brandprotect.com)
Incorporated in 2001, BrandProtect is an online brand security company
protecting an organization's clients, brands and revenues from fraud and
other abuses. It is also the sister company for BrandIntel, a research
company that analyzes online consumer-published content to advance business
decision-making. With over 150 clients, BrandProtect is recognized for
transforming the way Fortune 1000 companies address brand risks and
opportunities due to the growth of the Internet. BrandProtect's mission is
to leverage the combined power of technology and human analysis to make
business strategy, sales/marketing and operations better, faster and more
efficient. The company's award-winning technology platform creates an
incredibly rich market opportunity for companies to take advantage of the
Web in order to manage, protect or grow their brands. By leveraging the
company's extensive experience in operations, business development,
industry verticals and technology, BrandProtect provides its clients with a
distinct competitive advantage. BrandProtect is headquartered in Toronto,
Canada, with offices in the United States, Singapore and London. For more
information, visit www.brandprotect.com.