Sandy Wardenburg Waggett walks through a fake ransomware email that demanded 1500 Bitcoin and threatened to destroy a client's website. The scam wasn't real, but she warns not to click links in suspicious emails. Type URLs yourself or send the message to someone you trust to check it first.
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Good morning, everyone. Sandy Weigt here with MSW Interactive Designs. And today I'm here with another marketing tip.
And I've got Charlie with me too. So she's just hanging out.
So today we're not actually going to do a marketing tip.
I want to share with you a.
Scam that one of my clients was.
Hit up with last night.
And the reason I want to share it is because more than likely, if.
You are a website owner or business owner, you're going to get hit up with this at some point as well.
So what happened was she received an email from someone who said that they.
Had accessed the database on her website.
And what they were going to do was sell the information and then do.
Something nefarious with her website that would irreputably harm her website domain as well as her business.
And that she had five days to.
Pay them 1500 Bitcoin.
And if she didn't do that, then.
They were going to execute this evil plot right to ruin her reputation and her website. So here's the thing.
Fortunately, she didn't click through the link in the email.
Had she done that, it would have taken her most likely to a site that had some malicious code that would have downloaded on her system and, and that would have enabled them to track her keystrokes or access her passwords or where she had completely locked her out of her system until they actually did pay her.
So never click through a link in an email, even if it seems like.
It'S coming from someone you know.
Do not do that. If you need to go to a.
Website because someone sent you an email and asked you to go look at.
Something, just go up to the top.
Of your URL bar and type it in yourself. That way you know you're actually going to the real website and and not being redirected to something that's got some nefarious stuff on it.
Here's the thing, also, when you get.
An email that you're not sure about.
Send it to someone with some technical knowledge, someone that you trust, and ask.
Them to take a look at it for you before you take any action.
It's the safest way. If you are a client of mine, you know, you can send me things.
Like this anytime, and I will be happy to review them for you and give you my best advice.
You know, and if you aren't a client of mine and you don't have.
Anyone that can review it for you.
Feel free to send it to me as well. You can reach me through our website. It's mswinteractivedesigns.com we will be happy to.
Take a look at it for you.
And let you know what we think. So that's my tip for today. Watch out for these type of scams.
They really prey on people who, you know, just go click through links and then they do really bad things to your system.
Her website was not hacked.
It was not a real threat.
It was just someone trying to get.
Her to send them Bitcoin or click through this link so that they could do something else.
So that's my tip for today. Always be super cautious with email and clicking through links.
It's the best way to protect yourself, your identity, and your system.
So I am signing off. I hope this finds you well. Sandy Waggett with MSW Interactive Designs.
