Understanding Phishing or Scam Emails

What are phishing or scam emails? 

Phishing is the act of sending a message and falsely claiming to originate from a legitimate business. Phishing or scam emails are frequently sent to gain personal or private information such as usernames, passwords, account numbers, or financial information. These types of scams are becoming increasingly common and more difficult to detect.  

Internet scammers use sophisticated lures as they "fish" for users' private information. The most common ploy is to copy the look and feel of a major website and use that design to set up a nearly identical page that appears to be part of the company's site. 
 

How to protect yourself from phishing attempts

Be aware of suspicious, misleading emails and internet pop-up windows that claim to originate from Access. Requests to purchase products or for private information such as usernames, passwords, address details, birth dates, account numbers, or even credit card information, are not legitimate.

• Access Communications will NEVER request your username, password or any other personal information in an email or on the internet.
• Access Communications will NEVER ask for your billing or payment information through email.
• Access Communications will NEVER promote products and services that do not relate to telecommunications.

If you receive a phishing email or text message, delete it immediately. If you see a pop-up window while using the internet, close it immediately. If you accidentally click a link and enter your username and password, we recommend changing your password immediately.
 

Identifying phishing and scam emails 

• Be cautions of emails requesting information that come from an unknown sender.
• If the email is from a business organization, verify that the address of the sender is the official corporate address of a business that you recognize.
• Sometimes a phishing or scam email use poor spelling or grammar that you would not expect from your friends or corporate contacts.
• Before clicking a link in an email, it is good practice hover your mouse cursor over the link and verify it is taking you to an URL you recognize and want to visit.
• If you identify an email as a phishing or scam email, do not interact with it other than to delete it.  
   

What to do if you believe your information has been compromised 

If you believe your personal or private Access Communications account information has been compromised:

• Change your My Account password
• Contact us to report an incident related to your Access account
• If you believe your financial information has been compromised, contact your financial institutions.
• If you believe other sensitive information has been compromised and/or your were the victim of a targeted attack, contact your local law enforcement agencies.
   

For more information, visit our Cyber Security page:

Cyber Security