Is That Personal Email Real?

March 30, 2011 – Epsilon.com’s personal info was compromised.

The personal info that was obtained by an unauthorized entity, was only email addresses and/or customer names of Epsilon.com

Epsilon does the dirty work of e-mail list management, upkeep and complaint interference for household brands around the world, including Disney, Capital One and Kroger.  Most consumers have no idea that Epsilon has their e-mail and name — the e-mails generally appear to be from a retail firm with which the consumer has a business relationship. That relationship usually begins with a simple check box on a website or a form filled out during a retail store purchase, but it can last for years. -msnbc.com. There is a full investigation underway, but as of yet, no one even knows who was responsible.

My problem, and the reason I want to tell my readers about it, is that I immediately started receiving emails after that incident,  that looked as though they were from Amazon, Paypal, Target, Walmart – and lots of others.  The email are cleverly disguised as coming from legit businesses, and they have just enough info – such as your name or your email address that you think it’s actually coming from someone you trust.

This process is known as “phishing”.  Phishing - a fraudulent attempt to get you to provide personal information, including but not limited to, account information – has been going on almost as long as the Internet has.  The way you are “phished” could be a convenient link embedded in the email that takes you to another site that may also look legitimate, but needs some specific info from you – such as your address, or your bank account number.  Don’t even click on the link in the first place.

When I receive any email requiring me to answer a question or any that I am in the least bit suspicious of, or possibly one that says my account will be shut down if I do not immediately respond, I immediately go to that actual site such as www.amazon.com or www.paypal.com and well – all the others – and have always found  that there was no problem and my accounts were fine, and the email didn’t really come from any of the places I may purchase something from anyway.

So, if you are aware, all you need to do is to ignore those email – right?  The problem is that this goes on all the time.  And, are you going to remember to be careful when you receive one of those emails in two or three years?  Or are you going to go ahead and click on the handy link?  Perhaps even enter the name of your favorite pet, or your Mother’s maiden name??  NO!  Don’t do it.

At no time should you give anyone any personal information – especially in an email.  They do make it very convenient for you to give them information that could be devastating to your financial future.  You don’t even need to put a stamp on the envelope – you just have to click and….. well, hopefully all of you will heed this warning and remember.

If you receive a notice from your bank or utility company or a store through the email -  just give them a call – at a number you know is theirs.  Better yet, stop in and see if everything is going alright.  You make yourself known, and you’ll have no reason to wonder about an email.

This advice came from one financial institution:

Don’t give your User ID or password in e-mail.

Don’t respond to e-mails that require you to enter personal information directly into the e-mail.

Don’t respond to e-mails threatening to close your account if you do not take the immediate action of providing personal information.

Don’t reply to e-mails asking you to send personal information.

Don’t use your e-mail address as a login ID or password.

Personal Info Article by Barbie