DRYDEN – Police in Dryden are advising that there is another scam making the rounds in the community.
Dryden Police says “A Dryden resident has advised that they received an email from ‘American Power and Gas’ advising that they had an outstanding bill for August. They were asked to click on a link to download the bill.
“Luckily, the resident thought better of clicking on the link…..this type of scam is called a Phishing scam. If you do click the link, you would be directed to a fake version of the company’s website. When you are prompted “log in”, you’re actually providing your name and password to those who are fishing for your login information, so they can steal your identity and make your life miserable,” continue the DPS.
How can you defend yourself?
-Be suspicious if a business, government agency, or organization asks you to click on a link that then asks for your username or password or other personal data. Instead, type in the web address for the organization or call them. The link in the email may look right, but if you click it you may go to a copycat website run by a scammer.
•Be cautious about opening attachments. A scammer could even pretend to be a friend or family member, sending messages with malware from a spoofed account.
•Set your security software to update automatically, and back up your files to an external hard drive or cloud storage. Back up your files regularly and use security software you trust to protect your data.
