MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) — State consumer protection officials say they’re seeing an uptick in phishing emails trying to pose as official messages from your social media.
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection spokesman Jerad Albracht says the emails will try to look like official messages from Facebook, WhatsApp and other services. “As with any other unsolicited email, don’t click any links in it, delete this email immediately without opening it.” He says you’ll be able to tell them apart because they’ll have names like WhatsAppNotifier, The YoutubeSupport, and Automation FacebookService rather than coming from legitimate emails from the companies.
If you do find yourself with a virus or malware, Albracht say the best way to get it fixed is to take it to a trusted local repair service. “It’s likely that whatever it is you’ve got on your computer or your tablet or smartphone is something they’ve seen before. They’ll have the expertise you need to get it cleared out and update any antivirus software you have on it.” He reminds you to never send money to the criminals who use malware to lock down your computer because that could just open you up to further scams in the future.
The best way to get all your data back, however, is to make sure you have reliable backups of your computer. “Whether you’re a business or a consumer, the best advice you probably have as far as this digital information is concerned is just to make sure you’re backing everything up.” Albracht says there’s a number of good sources for doing that, including using online cloud services and getting an external hard drive.
You can find more cyber security tips online at http://datcp.wi.gov.
