Beware of Phishing Emails; IIBEC’s Servers Are Secure

Beware of Phishing Emails; IIBEC’s Servers Are Secure

Many members and associates of IIBEC have been receiving phishing and spoofing emails purported to be from IIBEC CEO/EVP Lionel van der Walt. The latest talks about “mandatory” tax policy and security tax agreements requiring companies to provide services in accordance with new policies (See https://mailchi.mp/rci-online/spam_emal_alert?e=31cc7b0ea2). Other members report receiving fake proposals to their emails that require private information to log in to download the document. Spammers are getting more sophisticated with the way they attempt to obtain your information. These emails typically provide attachments or links. Do not open them! The emails are not coming from IIBEC or from info@iibec.org.

We assure you that IIBEC’s email servers and website servers have not been compromised in any way. Your information is secure and uncompromised. The emails you received did not actually come from info@iibec.org. We would never approach you in this way.

What to do if you get one?

Be suspicious. If there is a link in the email and you hover the mouse over it, you can see the actual URL rather than what is displayed in the email text. You should compare the link text in the email with what appears in the hover view to be certain that they match. Don’t click any links or open any attachments if something doesn’t seem quite right in an email. When in doubt, call the sender to determine if they actually sent the email in question.

Never reply to or click on links inside spam emails. Replying to, clicking on links within, or even unsubscribing from spam emails typically only informs the sender that they have found an active email address to which they’ll send more spam emails. Instead, report the message as spam.

Their purpose is to trick you into sending sensitive data related to your business or to make money transfers or pay fake invoices. Don’t be pulled in.

What if you’ve opened an attachment?

If you’ve clicked on a link or an attachment in one of these emails, and fear that you may have been infected with a virus or malware, contact your IT folks or run a virus/malware scanner immediately to determine if you have any threats running on your computer.