I have been receiving phishing emails. One indicates that my email is suspended, and that I need to update. Another has some other scare tactic. Logos all look real, but the grammar is usually off, and there's frequently a typo. They look like they are from Yahoo! Actually sent from a personal email, though. Sneaky business!

Thanks for the heads up. I keep thinking it's silly for me to have an unlisted number, and I really should change my account. But then I hear something like this and decide to keep it unlisted awhile longer.

I recently changed my email password, just because it's good practice to do so. The company that bought my email server has a password policy, and their rep told me the one I'd chosen was not good at all. Too risky, even though it was long and had numbers that had nothing to do with my birthday, etc. He wanted me to use upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Sigh. But I did so, rather than argue with him. Three weeks later my account was suspended because a hacker got hold of my new password and flooded my account with spam.

We are often told that the most secure passwords are at least 15 characters in length, and have at least one of each of the following:

Uppercase letter
Lowercase letter
Number
Special character -- which would include, but not be limited to any of the following: ! @ # $ % & * - _

You can do a Google search for random password generator and get several sites that will do just that. You indicate how many total characters you want, and what to include.

Here is a link that might be useful: PC Tools Random Password Generator

Yesterday I placed an online order with LL Bean. Since I didn't remember my password I opted to pick a new one. According to Ll Bean my new password is "wicked strong"!

So, ma(with)ire_ cate ...

... are you feeling more "wicked" ...

... or more "strong", today?

Or - both?

o j

How New England-y, Maire!

But maybe you should change it again, now that we all know what it is. :-)

You all got me thinking about passwords and coming up with new passwords on a regular basis. I found excel formulas on line that allow me to generate my own passwords. Thanks people.

Thanks for the warning.

what a mess I got just addng adobe to my puter...my acct uses it but bet her's didn't add all this junk!

lol..thought I had junk mail the other day and had sent it to spam...good thing I rechecked..it was a ligit email from the ins co! you just never know, do you?

I kept meaning to look it up and finally have. Here's what ATT has to say about it...

Here is a link that might be useful: scam information

I just randomly pick upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols, to the maximum allowed by any particular website. It works just as good as any password generator :-)

Thanks for the link, Rob. The girl I spoke to at ATT had no clue. Unfortunately, I did visit the website, just to see what it looked like. I didn't click on any links or anything, I hope I didn't compromise myself. Sheesh, if these people spent as much time on legitimate things as they do on scamming.....

You're right. So here's the text in the link:

Phone and text messaging rewards scam

Be cautious if you receive a phone call or text message that entices you to claim an AT&T reward by logging into your myAT&T account. This scam directs you to a non-AT&T website that may look like the real thing, but it's a phishing site used to capture your personal information.

Scammers target AT&T wireless voice and text messaging customers like you in hopes of gaining access to your myAT&T account so they can make changes, order equipment, or obtain personal information. By opening links or visiting untrusted websites you may accidently download software or viruses to your wireless device or PC.

Some examples of fraudulent text messages and robo-call enticements that claim to offer an AT&T reward include:

www.att620.com - Simply log into your account to redeem your $620. At AT&T we care about you. Thank you and have a nice day.
www.att550.com - Simply log into your account to redeem your $550. At AT&T we care about you. Thank you and have a nice day.
www.att440.com - Simply log into your account to redeem your $440. At AT&T we care about you. Thank you and have a nice day.
Defending yourself against a rewards scam
If you suspect a text message or phone call isn't from AT&T or is in any way fraudulent:

Don't open the text message or click on any links within it.
Don't respond directly to the phone call.
Don't visit any websites a fraudulent phone call directs you to visit.
Reporting a rewards scam
We remain committed to protecting you against all forms of fraudulent activity that may compromise your security and enjoyment of our services. Partnering together, we can keep everyone informed and reduce the number of fraudulent attacks.

Report suspected fraudulent phone calls to abuse@att.net.
Forward any fraudulent text messages to 7726 (SPAM).
Send any spam texts where you're not able to view the phone number to abuse@att.net, making sure you include the entire message.