Most small business enterprises have enough issues on their plate to concern themselves with, without having to worry about “phishing emails” trying to steal their personal information for nefarious purposes. Nevertheless, the State’s Attorney General has joined the Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA) in warning of a sharp increase in such attempts, especially for those who have special licenses to operate.
To ensure that Michigan business owners are aware of the continued attempts to obtain their personal information, Attorney General Dana Nessel is drawing attention to an urgent alert issued by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs that warns everyone to beware of phishing emails sent to Michigan licensees by scammers impersonating LARA officials.
Michigan licensees refers to anyone who holds a professional license issued by LARA, such as those under the Public Health Code, the Occupational Code and other relevant statutes.
State of Michigan licensees have reported receiving fraudulent emails with numerous grammatical errors.
Nessel says, “Scammers will stop at nothing to cheat someone out of their personal information and hard-earned money,” and adds, “My office provides a library of resources for Michiganders to ensure they know how to spot and stop attempts to rob them of their personal information. We all must look for warning signs such as misspelled words, unrecognizable email addresses and suspicious links in the emails we receive.”
A library of consumer alerts created by the Department’s Consumer Protection Team is available online and organized by a number of categories at the link below:
https://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-359-81903_20942—,00.html
Attorney General Nessel wants consumers to keep the following in mind:
- Misspelled words or poor grammar in the subject line or body of the email are red flags identifying a scam.
- The name listed on the “from” line is not always an indication of who is emailing you. Pay close attention to the actual email address. If that email address doesn’t match up with what you know to be correct or is abnormally long, it’s likely a phishing scam.
- Always be cautious of any unsolicited requests for any personal information. LARA will not contact you directly asking for personal information.
- Do not respond to, or open hyperlinks in email or text messages about validating your personal data.
Remember: Do not reply to any suspicious emails and never provide personal information. If personal information is compromised, it may be used to commit identity theft or in other fraudulent schemes.
More details on how people in Michigan can protect their personal information are available on the Consumer Protection Team’s webpage at the link below:
