Staff
Another e-mail scam is making the rounds—this time claiming to be from the billing department at Bell Canada.
A local woman contacted the Times on Wednesday after having received an e-mail purporting to be from Bell Canada and claiming that due to a problem with a recent bill payment, she must click a link and update billing information via an online form.
She added the e-mail looked legitimate to her, but she became suspicious because she received it at her work e-mail address which she does not use as her contact address with Bell.
She contacted Bell Canada about the e-mail and determined the message was not from Bell Canada, but is, in fact, a “phishing” scam designed to steal personal and financial information from its customers.
Bell told her they’re getting phone calls on this e-mail, and that its fraud department has been notified.
The e-mail has the “Bell” logo in the top left-hand corner.
It reads as follows: “This e-mail has been sent to you by Bell Canada to inform you that we were unable to process your most recent payment of bill. This might be due to either of the following reasons:
1. A recent change in your personal information. (e.g., billing address, phone)
2. Submitting incorrect information during bill payment process.
“Due to this, to ensure that your service is not interrupted, we request you to confirm and update your Bell Profile with the billing information today by clicking Billing.”
After this paragraph, there is a link that reads “Billing” (do not click on this link).
Under that, it reads: “If you have already confirmed your billing information, then please disregard this message as we are processing the changes you have made.
“After you confirm your billing information, you can use your account as usual.”
“Regards, Bell Canada Billing Department.”
On its website, Bell Canada offers advice for its Internet customers, including:
•Always remember that Bell does not send customers e-mails asking for passwords, account numbers, or personal information;
•Don’t trust any official-sounding e-mail asking you to confirm personal and financial information;
•Watch for unusual or poor grammar; and
•Don’t trust strangers who claim to be making you an offer you can’t refuse.
“If you receive one of these e-mails, delete it immediately and do not respond to it,” Bell’s website advises.
“[Also] avoid clicking an ‘Unsubscribe’ link in such e-mails as this can alert the fraudster to the fact that the e-mail address is active and valid,” it warned.
