In light of a recent massive data breach, you need to be aware of new concerns to protect your personal information.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has been inundated with concerns recently over the massive data breach of Epsilon, the world's largest "permissions-based" email marketer.
According to SecurityWeek, Best Buy, Citi, Chase, U.S. Bank, Capitol One, Walgreens, Kroger, Marriott International, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, Brookstone, New York & Co., TiVo, HSN and L.L. Bean are among the confirmed companies whose customer data was stolen. The amount of data stolen is under investigation and has not been officially confirmed.
"This data breach is not elementary," said David Polino, Better Business Bureau President. "Scammers will be armed with more personal information - knowledge of where you bank, shop or who you buy from, along with your name and email. It's a recipe for an authentic looking spoof."
The BBB Says you should be wary of anyone who asks for your personal information like bank accounts, passwords and Social Security number, even if it's from a company you know.
The BBB says hackers will even rip off business logos to look more like normal emails you would get from companies in order to deceive you. And it may not happen immediately.
"It's four or six months from now that should concern consumers," Polino said. "They need to know how to detect an email scam because this type of bogus solicitation will continue and unfortunately lure the unsuspecting."
The BBB has this advice to avoid becoming a victim of a phishing attack:
*Don't Reply. If an email asks for personal or financial information, even if it appears to be from a trusted source, don't reply. Instead contact the company on your own if you have questions or just delete the email immediately.
*Don't Click. Links embedded in an email generally try to redirect you. If you are not familiar with the sender, don't click. Clicking to some websites can automatically trigger malicious code and infect your computer.
*Verify, verify, verify. Do your own research to make sure the company website is authentic and secure before sharing personal information. Open a new browser and manually type the web address on your own.
*When you are providing sensitive information such as credit cards or bank information, make sure the address bar shows "https://" rather than just "http://" which indicates that the web browser is secure.
*Keep Up-to-date. Make sure you have adequate anti-spyware, anti-virus and anti-spam software. While consumers are ultimately responsible for keeping personal and financial information private, these technologies are designed to help keep phishing attacks at a minimum.
