Seven top tips to beat Phishing scammers at their game
07 Apr 2011
A recent Epsilon data breach has compromised the data security of millions of email account holders and though no financial details were released along with the e-mail information that does not mean all is well warns Neil J Rubenking in an article in pcmag.com.
A little-known outsourced marketing services supplier, Epsilon Data Management LLC, hired to manage marketing campaigns revealed last week that hackers had accessed names and email addresses in its systems. In the days that followed, more than 40 companies.
Many well-known brands in the hotel and leisure, entertainment, and retail industries use Epsilon's services to send marketing emails to their customer base. It would appear that the list of customer contacts were the very information that was stolen.
The data hijacked from Epsilon, such as names and email addresses, is not as sensitive as social-security and credit-card numbers. However, cybercriminals could still use the information to commit fraud, especially if they know the email addresses associated with customers of particular businesses.
The Epsilon data breach affected companies from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to TiVo Inc, due to outsourcing email marketing campaigns, which has gained wide acceptance in the past decade as consumers have become less responsive to commercial sales pitches.
Scammers who have accessed the e-mail address are now probably working on ways they could inveigl you give part with your financial information he says.
