It has come to our attention that a number of email messages claiming to be from “Administrator” are circulating. These messages reference an Exchange email ID and invite the reader to open an attachment to manage their email account.
All of these messages are fraudulent and do not originate from Lexicom, even if they appear to come from us. Do not open the attachment.
You can easily identify and protect yourself from this sort of message in the future by considering a few simple points:
- do not open any attachments on any message that is not a direct reply to a message you, youself, sent. In fact, be suspicious of any attachments you are not expecting even in a regular email exchange.
- if a message claims to be from a generic role (“administrator”, etc.), it is almost certainly not legitimate. While Lexicom does send some automated notices from a generic email address, these will not contain attachments nor will they as for any sensitive information. They will clearly identify what they are.
- if the message appears to be addressed to someone else, it probably isn’t legitimate
- if the message has a salutation including the part of your email address before the @ sign, it probably isn’t legitimate
- if the message requests that you open an attachment or click on a link to complete an action, it is almost certainly a scam
- if the message purports to be from a company you don’t do business with, it’s certainly a scam
- if the message asks you to fill in any information or provide any access credentials, it is most likely a scam
The most important thing is to trust your instinct. If something feels like it is wrong somehow, it probably is. If you have any doubts whatsoever, verify the message through other means.