Paperless accounts require us to be smart about electronic communication.
Why it matters: Clicking on the wrong button or link in an email or text can have dire consequences.
🧠 Dan is a technology consultant for businesses and offers this advice for identifying phishing emails:
👀 What to look for:
- Sense of urgency —> Using words/phrases like … “Alert!” … “Your account is locked!” … “Restore my account.”
- Check the sender —> Who is it from? The sender’s name could be a variation of a well known institution. Look at the actual email address. It might be visible or you might need to click on the sender’s name to see the email address.
- Spelling and grammatical errors —> These emails often have errors. Reading out loud can help you catch them. But, be careful! Your brain will try to make sense of it and can “correct” it as you read.
- Hover your mouse over clickable links —> See if the site address matches the text of the link.
🥊 The bottom line: Real businesses are not going to contact you this way. When in doubt, take a breath and reach out to that institution by phone or login through your regular portal.
✅ For your Smart Homeowner list
- Don’t let life’s distractions get your guard down so you click on a link sent by a bad actor.
- For a demo of the tips above, check out Dan’s video here — contains adult language. 😜
Best,
Travis
🔦 Pro Spotlight
Dan Gilligan founded IntegraMSP to provide IT solutions to small and medium sized businesses. IntegraMSP offers custom solutions for construction companies.