Please be aware of email scams such as the one attached. There are multiple scams out there (IRS, COVID-19, Microsoft, etc), most of which will pressure the receiver (you) to send money electrically through various means (Bitcoin, GrennDOT debit card, Western Union, etc.)  These means of currency exchange are difficult to trace and even more difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

Like many scams, there could be one or two pieces of accurate information. This helps trick the receiver into believing the validity of the email. In the attached example, the sender listed the receivers password. It all likelihood, the password was probably compromised during any number of data breaches that occur throughout the year.

What to look for in suspicious emails:

1. Misspellings, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure and font type. 

2. The email address from the sender. For example, international emails will end in ".uk" or ".ru" instead of ".com" or ".net"

3. Time sensitive and/or threat of embarrassment: This increases the anxiety of the receiver and rushes them to react to the threat before thinking about it.

How to prevent:

1. Be mindful of the sites you and your family visit.

2. Update security setting on your phone, laptop or PC

3. Use complex passwords and never use the same password for multiple websites.

What to do if you receive a suspicious email:

1. Delete it!

2. Do no click on any links, buttons or attachments.

3. Change passcodes and if you believe your personal information was compromised; contact the police, financial institutions and the 3 major credit bureaus.