There has been a particularly common scam/exploitation email going around recently. In the email, the scammer claims to have control over your email account, have evidence of some of your behavior that you wouldn’t want getting out to your professional contacts or family. This email is based on a well-publicized and very real crime, but scammers are always about making the most amount of money with the least amount of effort, so none of the emails going out recently have any real blackmail behind them. Instead, they are using a part of the email protocol that allows them to rewrite the from address on the email to whatever they would like.

This is an example of one of these emails pulled from one of our client’s accounts.

It is for this reason that we have decided that we will be rejecting all emails sent to the same address they are from. This is the fastest and most effective way to block these emails and emails like them in the future. This does mean that you can no longer email notes to yourself to get them between devices. If you need to do that, you should still be able to if you just save the email as a draft, or send it to another email address you have control over.

As always, whenever we block one avenue for the spammers, they will likely attempt to find a workaround. Always be very wary of emails concerning money. No reputable institution will ask for payment in Gift Cards or Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Etherium, Dashcoin, Litecoin. We actively encourage our clients to reach out to institutions they may do business with via alternative methods using main phone numbers listed on official websites if there is any question about amounts discussed in an email.