Does it seem like in recent months you’ve received an influx of scam emails? Have you mistakenly opened a few, not even realizing what they are? Cybercriminals are elevating their tactics and constantly inventing new ways to steal information from people. If an email seems suspicious, it very well may be and it’s always good to take precautions by verifying the email address before sending any bank or personal details.
It’s always best to CALL the person or organization FIRST to confirm it’s legitimate rather than automatically replying with your information. In some cases your contact’s account may be compromised and the e-mail sent is from the correct address, it’s always best to stop and call that person regardless. If their account has been compromised the cybercriminal can just reply to your email asking, “Is this legitimate?”.
One of the best ways to reduce scam emails is to add email addresses into your Safe Senders List. This will help determine what emails, from what individuals you receive and help filter out those pesky scammers. Here are step-by-step instructions for Outlook users to add contacts to their Safe Senders List:
- Open Outlook. On the Home tab, click Junk. If you don’t see it, you may have to click the three dots on the far-right hand side of the toolbar, “…”.
- Click Junk E-mail Options. A dialog box will pop up. Click the Safe Senders tab.
- You can either add email addresses individually by clicking Add or if you’d like all contacts and the people you email, to be automatically included, check the two boxes Automatically add people I email to the Safe Senders List and Also trust email from my Contacts.
- Click Edit to change an email address selected on the list.
- Click Remove to delete an email address selected on the list.
- Click Apply and then OK.
And voila! Something to note is that if you edit or remove the email address of an approved sender, messages from that address could potentially be flagged as spam. Use caution when changing or deleting email addresses for this reason.
This has been a reoccurring issue with many of our clients recently, so we hope these tips are helpful. As a trusted MSP, we are here to help with any questions or concerns you may have. If you or anyone in your organization has been experiencing these same types of issues, feel free to contact us. We’d be glad to help!