Energy Department Refund And Other Phishing Scams
Look, anytime you get an email that is not personally addressed to your email address, delete it. Do not open it. That alone will reduce your chances of being scammed by at least 75%.
Then of those that were addressed to you, delete all the ones that are from someone you do not know or from websites you never visited. Now you move your protection level up to about 95% safe from being scammed by email.
The energy department refund scam is one of the latest phishing scams going around. These scammers are experts. They find current trends to use against you. Right now everyone is thinking green. They want to help conserve energy. We always want to save money.
Remember con artists depend on your greed. The emails will tell you that you have a refund coming from the energy department. You will be asked to login somewhere and provide personal information in order to mail you a check.
The energy department never sends refunds to any consumers. NEVER. N E V E R. So if you get that email or one like it, delete it.
Paypal never emails you with “Dear User”. They address you by name. Your bank likely does the same. Any banking email that starts with calling you user or member or some other generic name can be safely deleted.
Anytime you open an email that seems to be from your bank or other financial website you use, never click the links in that email. Never. N E V E R.
I hope you got that. Instead, close that email. Close the email program you use as well. Then open your browser and go to your banking website by typing in the address. You can find out anything you need to know there.
When you are done with a banking session online, logout. Close all browser windows. Then reopen one if you are going to another website. This may all seem like a hassle but if you want to protect yourself from being scammed or having your banking passwords and other info stolen, you need to do these steps.
