Do you think you’re safe from scammers?

I did! I know that scammers are getting smarter, and the emails look more authentic all the time but I thought surely I would still spot a scam and not get caught out. Well, I didn’t, but it was waaaay closer than I would like!

I was at an early morning meeting, waiting for it to start and checking email on my tablet. One of the emails was from Amazon, confirming my order of an iPad Mini. One just like the one I was using to check my email, in fact.

The email looked like any other order confirmation from Amazon, however it caused amaronabsolute panic in me as I knew I HADN’T placed an order for an iPad Mini. Why would I, when I’d already purchased one??

In my rush to cancel this obviously false order, I clicked the button to go to my email account. I was just logging in to get my Amazon password when it dawned on me that I should check the URL to be on the safe side. The domain in the url was not amazon.com or any of the other variations, but something entirely different. That is how close I came to giving my Amazon login details to a scammer. Amazon has always been one of the safest sites online, they were one of the first to realise that storing customer’s credit card details on their servers was actually safer than transmitting them on every single transaction. So your credit card info is safe with Amazon. As long as nobody gets hold of your Amazon login details. If they can login then they can use the stored cards to purchase from the site, which could prove very costly indeed.

This is a lesson to us all, if you receive an email that doesn’t quite make sense always check the details on the email itself, which email address does it say it was sent from. This can be tampered with quite easily, however, so if you click through on a link from an email always check the domain on the url in your browser as well to ensure that it matches the official domain for the brand.

Please be careful out there!

hacker website security
15 July 2016
Andrea @ Coppertops

Andrea @ Coppertops

I help small Irish businesses get found online with clear websites, simple marketing, and tech that behaves itself.

Work with me your way:
done‑for‑you if you want it handled,
done‑with‑you if you want a partner,
or do‑it‑yourself with a helping hand.

Through Chemistry Calls, website builds the Coppertops way, and the Nurture IT membership, we make digital feel doable.

Expect straight answers, tidy systems, and gentle encouragement to press publish. Empowering people to do what they thought they couldn’t is my favourite part of the job.

My background is a path from Chemistry to Computer Science to Web Technology, where I found strong feelings about building websites that work rather than just look pretty. Adding marketing, design and strategy skills to that technical foundation means that at Coppertops we build your website to work for your business and to visually represent you online - a site that you can love and feel proud to share!