Grove Bank & Trust recently learned about a potential phishing scam related to Hurricane Harvey. Since your security and the security of your clients is of utmost important to us, we wanted to pass along the announcement below from Homeland Security. Please take a moment to review the defined preventative measures to protect yourself from phishing scams and malware campaigns.

As always, if you have any questions about security, Grove Bank & Trust is here as a trusted resource and we are happy to help.

Announcement from Homeland Security: National Cyber Awareness Original release date: August 28, 2017

US-CERT warns users to remain vigilant for malicious cyber activity seeking to capitalize on interest in Hurricane Harvey. Users are advised to exercise caution in handling any email with subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks related to Hurricane Harvey, even if it appears to originate from a trusted source. Fraudulent emails will often contain links or attachments that direct users to phishing or malware-infected websites. Emails requesting donations from duplicitous charitable organizations commonly appear after major natural disasters.

US-CERT encourages users and administrators to use caution when encountering these types of email messages and take the following preventative measures to protect themselves from phishing scams and malware campaigns:

• Do not follow unsolicited web links in email messages.
• Use caution when opening email attachments. Refer to the US-CERT Tip Using Caution with Email Attachments for more information on safely handling email attachments.
• Keep antivirus and other computer software up-to-date.
• Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information on social engineering attacks.
• Review the Federal Trade Commission information on Charity Scams.

Verify the legitimacy of any email solicitation by contacting the organization directly through a trusted contact number. You can find trusted contact information for many charities on the BBB National Charity Report Index.