News-Register issues email scam warning

Scam emails – known as “phishing attacks” — are being received throughout the community and beyond, perhaps connected to the illegal breach of a mailbox account in the News-Register’s email system.

“We and others are being victimized by scam emails sent out to people who are past recipients of emails from us,” said News-Register Publisher Jeb Bladine. He said the scam messages have real names in the email “From” field, but they display sender email addresses manufactured by an illegal system using off-shore computer servers.

Some of the phishing emails give a sense of legitimacy by incorporating old emails involving the scam recipient, said Bladine, adding that displayed sender names may be someone from the newspaper or someone from outside the company.

Bladine said it may be safe to open the emails, but not to click on any included links or attachments. Anti-virus systems can prevent those links from opening, he said, but the best protection is not to click them in the first place.

“People always should be cautious of suspicious-looking emails,” said Bladine, “and always confirm that the sender’s displayed email address matches what they would expect from the named sender.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this illegal activity,” Bladine said. “We are working with professionals in trying to shut it down, and we have reported the ongoing incident to the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.”