A fishing hook on a computer keyboard
January 28, 2021

UPDATED Consumer Alert: The Department of State and Division of Consumer Protection Warn of Email Phishing Scheme

UPDATED Consumer Alert: The Department of State and Division of Consumer Protection Warn of Email Phishing Scheme
Scammers Use Fake Email to Try to Get Users to Click on Fraudulent Link

 

Thursday, January 28, 2021

The New York State Department of State and the Division of Consumer Protection today warned New Yorkers of an email phishing scheme. These illegitimate emails ask recipients to verify their profile to avoid experiencing delay and future problems in renewing their license. The messages link to a non-listed URL. Anyone who received such an email should delete it right away.

The following is a sample of the emails sent:

From: New York Secretary Of State [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2021 1:21 AM

Subject: Department Of State Important Notice

Effective January 30,2021 Department Of State,Division Of Corporations,State Andrew M Cuomo,Former Governor,Rossana Rosado.Secretary Of State require that all legally conduct businesses in the state should verify their profile to avoid experiencing delay and future problems in renewing their license in 2021

Please click on Validate Profile below to login to your account and begin the profile validation process.

VALIDATE PROFILE HERE

New York Secretary Of State

Note: This is an automated email. Do NOT reply to this message.

Phishing emails are fraudulent messages scammers use to obtain data or sensitive personal information. That information can be used to commit identity theft or trick the recipient into installing malicious software onto a computer or mobile device.

To help protect against phishing or smishing (SMS phishing) scams, the NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Division of Consumer Protection recommend the following precautions:

  • DO exercise caution with all communications you receive, including those that appear to be from a trusted entity.  Inspect the senders information to confirm the message was generated from a legitimate source.
  • DO keep an eye out for telltale signs of phishing - poor spelling or grammar, the use of threats, the URL does not match that of the legitimate site. If the message does not feel right, chances are it is not.
  • DONT click on links embedded in an unsolicited message from an unverified source.
  • DONT send your personal information via text.  Legitimate businesses will not ask users to send sensitive personal information through text message.
  • DONT post sensitive information online.  The less information you post, the less data you make available to a cybercriminal for use in developing a potential attack or scams.

For more information on phishing scams, as well as steps to mitigate a phishing attempt, visit the NYS Office of Information Technology Services Phishing Awareness resources page at https://its.ny.gov/cybersecurity  or the Division of Consumer Protection Phishing Scam Prevention Tips page at https://dos.ny.gov/phishing-scam-prevention-tips.

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection serves to educate, assist and empower the States consumers. For more consumer protection information, call the DCP Helpline at 800-697-1220, Monday through Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm or visit the DCP website at www.dos.ny.gov/consumerprotection. The Division can also be reached via Twitter at @NYSConsumer or Facebook at www.facebook.com/nysconsumer

 

About ITS

The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) was created in 2012 to transform IT services in an effort to make New York State government work smarter for its citizens and enable the state to be accessible for businesses through the use of technology. ITS provides statewide IT strategic direction, directs IT policy and delivers centralized IT products and services that support the mission of the State. ITS operates data centers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to support statewide mission-critical applications for over 50 Agencies, over 17 million citizen accounts, 120,000 employee accounts, 60,000 phones, 99,000 desktops and laptops, and 3,433 Virtual Desktop remote connections. ITS operates a secure network of over 1,600 miles of fiber to deliver telecommunications, Internet and Intranet services, enterprise email systems and support, IT training, networking, data storage and processing to State government entities in addition to developing new services in support of citizens, businesses and State Agencies.

For more information, visit https://its.ny.gov and follow us on Twitter @nysits.

 

Contact Information: Alicia Biggs [email protected]