How to Spot and Avoid Geek Squad Email Scams
In recent years, scammers have increasingly impersonated Geek Squad, Best Buy’s tech support service, to deceive individuals into divulging personal information or making unnecessary payments. Understanding how these scams operate and how to recognize them is crucial for safeguarding your personal data and finances.
Understanding the Geek Squad Email Scam
The Geek Squad email scam is a phishing attempt where fraudsters pose as Geek Squad representatives to steal personal information or trick victims into paying for fake services. These emails often appear legitimate, making it challenging to distinguish them from authentic communications.
Common Types of Geek Squad Email Scams
- Auto-Renewal Scam: Scammers send emails stating that your Geek Squad subscription is about to auto-renew at a substantial cost. The email urges you to call a provided number or click a link to cancel the subscription, aiming to extract personal and financial details.
- Fake Antivirus Software Offer: You might receive emails warning of malware infections among Geek Squad customers, offering free antivirus software downloads. However, these downloads are malicious and designed to infect your device, steal data, or gain remote access.
- Password Reset Scam: Emails claim suspicious activity on your Best Buy account, prompting you to reset your password via a provided link. The link leads to a fake website designed to capture your login credentials, allowing scammers unauthorized access to your account.
Recognizing Scam Emails
Be vigilant for the following signs:
- Sense of Urgency: Scammers often pressure you to act quickly, creating a false sense of urgency.
- Suspicious Sender Addresses: Examine the sender’s email address for inconsistencies or misspellings. Official communications will come from a legitimate Best Buy domain.
- Generic Greetings: Emails that don’t address you by name, such as “Dear Customer,” may be fraudulent.
- Poor Grammar and Spelling: Legitimate companies maintain professional communication standards.
- Unsolicited Attachments or Links: Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown senders.
Protective Measures
- Verify Communications: If you receive a suspicious email, contact Geek Squad or Best Buy directly using official contact information from their website.
- Avoid Unsolicited Links and Downloads: Refrain from clicking on links or downloading attachments from unknown sources.
- Use Security Software: Ensure your devices are equipped with reputable antivirus and anti-malware programs.
- Stay Informed: Educate yourself about common phishing tactics to recognize and avoid potential scams.
Reporting Scams: If you encounter a Geek Squad scam, report it to Best Buy. Additionally, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through their Complaint Assistant.
Avoid Netflix Payment Scams: Recognize Phishing Emails
In recent months, a sophisticated email scam targeting Netflix users has emerged, aiming to steal personal and financial information. These phishing emails closely mimic legitimate Netflix communications, making them particularly deceptive. If you don’t have ExchangeDefender PRO Phishing protection, then here’s what you need to know:
How the Scam Operates
Victims receive emails claiming issues with their Netflix account, such as payment problems or account suspensions. The email urges recipients to update their payment details via a provided link, which leads to a fake Netflix login page. Entering information on this page allows scammers to harvest login credentials and credit card details.
Identifying the Scam
- Sender’s Email Address: Scam emails may originate from unofficial domains, such as an iCloud domain, rather than Netflix’s official domain.
- Urgent Language: The message may claim your account is on hold and prompt immediate action to update payment information.
- Suspicious Links: Hovering over links may reveal URLs that don’t direct to Netflix’s official website.
Protective Measures
- Avoid Clicking Links: Do not click on links or open attachments from unsolicited emails.
- Verify Authenticity: Log in directly through the official Netflix website to check your account status.
- Report Suspicious Emails: Forward any dubious emails to phishing@netflix.com.
- Monitor Financial Statements: Regularly check your bank and credit card statements for unauthorized transactions.
Netflix’s Official Stance
Netflix states it will never ask for personal information, such as credit card numbers or passwords, via email or text messages. By staying vigilant and recognizing the signs of phishing attempts, you can protect your personal and financial information from these scams.
Texas Strengthens Cybersecurity with New State-Level Command Center
In February 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the creation of the Texas Cyber Command, a state-level initiative headquartered in San Antonio.
This command center aims to enhance the state’s ability to anticipate, detect, and prevent cyberattacks, leveraging local expertise from institutions like The University of Texas at San Antonio. The Texas Cyber Command will collaborate with state universities, Regional Security Operation Centers, and various local and state agencies to create a unified defense against cyber threats.
Key objectives include promoting cybersecurity awareness, conducting simulation exercises, and providing forensic analysis for post-attack investigations. This development underscores the growing importance of state-level initiatives in safeguarding digital assets and infrastructure.
For a visual overview of the Texas Cyber Command, you can watch the following video:
ExchangeDefender Web Services Update
ExchangeDefender Web Services Update has concluded and the new infrastructure is handling 100% of the ExchangeDefender traffic. So far the new platform is performing exactly as expected and we have already closed several minor bugs. Overall, we are extremely happy at ExchangeDefender today!
We want to take a moment to high-five ourselves and highlight three main areas where our clients and partners are going to benefit from this investment:
1. Enhanced Security
With the changes in the development backend, our platform now utilizes the latest security patches and modern language features, significantly reducing vulnerabilities and providing a more robust threat defense.
Our old platform was also rock-solid in terms of performance and security, but that secure-by-design methodology forced us to reverse-engineer as well as design and manage everything from input validation to report routing. Modern web services take care of these routine things allowing us to spend more time on policy development.
2. Improved Performance
The new infrastructure supports faster processing and is optimized for global operations allowing us to deliver a more responsive and reliable service.
You’ve already seen a hint of this in the ExchangeDefender LiveArchive relaunch as a standalone data vault for cloud operations. By breaking up our infrastructure into microservices we’re able to deliver edge operations closer to where our clients are, we can keep data more securely in your local data geography, and we can delegate away control as required.
3. Features Shipped Faster
By moving away from legacy code and internal systems/plugins for policy and protocol enforcement, we can dedicate more of our development cycles to policies and training that will keep your organization more secure. You will be able to benefit from the latest improvements and security innovations while we deliver more.
Thank you for filling out our survey, if you haven’t done so please take a moment to tell us where we can help. We have intentionally dedicated a large window to bringing the new web service infrastructure online so we do have spare cycles to help alleviate some pain points our clients are experiencing. Please take a moment to fill out our survey
We are hard at work on the new User Interface, we’re nearly ready for the public launch of our Phishing platform, all sorts of goodies are heading your way so once again – thank you for your business and your faith in us to deliver safe and secure email to your organization.
Sincerely, Vlad Mazek CEO ExchangeDefender
Pretexting Scams Explained: How to Protect Your Personal Information
Pretexting is a type of fraud where scammers create a false scenario or identity to trick you into revealing personal information. This information can then be used for identity theft, financial fraud, or other malicious purposes.
How Does Pretexting Work?
Scammers often employ a variety of tactics to gain your trust. Here are some common examples of pretexting:
- Impersonation: Scammers may pretend to be government officials, law enforcement officers, bank employees, or even family members to gain your confidence.
- Phishing: This involves sending fraudulent emails or text messages that appear to be from legitimate companies, urging you to click on links or provide personal information.
- Social engineering: Scammers use psychological manipulation techniques to exploit your emotions or curiosity.
Common Pretexting Scams
- Government Imposter Scams: Scammers posing as IRS or Social Security Administration agents may threaten legal action if you don’t provide personal information or make immediate payments.
- Tech Support Scams: Fraudsters claim to be from tech companies and offer to fix non-existent computer problems for a fee.
- Grandparent Scams: Scammers pretend to be grandchildren in distress, requesting money urgently.
- Romance Scams: These involve building fake online relationships to gain trust and then requesting financial assistance.
Protecting Yourself from Pretexting Scams
- Be Wary of Unsolicited Contact: Avoid sharing personal information with anyone who contacts you unexpectedly.
- Verify Information: If you receive a suspicious call or email, independently verify the sender’s identity before providing any information.
- Protect Your Personal Information: Be cautious about sharing sensitive details online or over the phone.
- Use Strong Passwords: Create complex passwords for your online accounts and consider using a password manager.
- Monitor Your Financial Accounts: Regularly review your bank and credit card statements for unauthorized activity.
Remember, legitimate businesses and government agencies will never ask for personal information through unsolicited calls, emails, or texts. If you suspect a scam, hang up or delete the message, and report it to the appropriate authorities. By staying informed and vigilant, you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of pretexting.
Preparing for LiveArchive Retirement
As mentioned on our recent webinars and blog posts, LiveArchive has worked very hard for us for decades and it’s time for it to go to Florida and retire.
The new kid on the block – ExchangeDefender Inbox – has been running our client’s business continuity for over a year and it’s proven to be more efficient and popular than LiveArchive. Just log in to your account (https://admin.exchangedefender.com) or use passwordless login and click on Inbox. You’ll have the last two weeks of email waiting for you there and you can send/receive while your email server/mailbox/or whatever is down or under maintenance.
Longer Term Archiving
While Inbox will take care of our clients’ email needs when their email is having issues, many of you need long-term archiving. If LiveArchive was ever power-used it would be in the realm of data recovery after a disaster, cryptolocker, or other threat destroyed the client’s email infrastructure. For those of you who are aware of the risk, there will be a need for archiving to go way beyond two weeks – even years. This is what the new LiveArchive will start doing for you on January 1st, 2024!
First, let’s get ready for the retirement of the current LiveArchive – the service will shut off on December 31st, 2023 at which point all data including backups and configurations will be removed from our network. This means that if you wish to keep current LiveArchive contents the migration request must be put in as a ticket at our support site at https://support.exchangedefender.com. Simply open a ticket with the subject “LiveArchive Migration” and provide the domain names you wish to migrate and the S3/RDS login credentials by December 1st, 2023. As promised on the webinar, we are offering this migration free of charge to our clients and partners but you need to get in the line by December 1st and have your AWS S3/RDS or self-hosted setup completed.
Second, if you need any help with AWS S3/RDS or if you’d like assistance with deploying this solution in your home office or data center, we got you too. If you need help and get in touch with us by December 1st, we’ll take care of it for you. It’s super simple, takes about 5 minutes total, and is extensively documented – but we love our clients and if you want an extra pair of hands we can help you. After December 1st (and depending on availability) we will take care of the setup for a one-time fee of $499 for AWS or $999 for self-hosted.
Future of LiveArchive
We look forward to this middle tier that every organization that relies on email to run their business needs. For business continuity, Inbox will give you access to email anywhere, anytime. For backups and long-term retention across various clouds and storage options, LiveArchive will take care of archiving your data. For additional assurance and best-in-class storage that meets complex compliance and insurance requirements, ComplianceArchive is your eDiscovery and compliance archiving solution. Simply put no matter how critical email is to your organization we’ve got a solution that fits your problems and your budget.
The new LiveArchive will start doing for you on January 1st, 2024!
Looking for beta testers: “Project Inbox”
We would like to invite our clients, partners, and enterprise users to a closed beta of Project: Inbox – an affordable email solution that can be used as a standalone solution or in hybrid mode with M365 and G Suite.
If you are interested, please email client.services@exchangedefender.com along with a domain name you will be using for the beta test.
Our CEO recently held a webinar explaining the strategy behind this new service and it has been evolving ever since based on market feedback. Simply put, there is a huge market for affordable mailboxes that still meet the high end security and business requirements like top of the line email security, SSO, IMAP/Outlook/Mobile access, and still use the same domain name as the more expensive Exchange or Gmail office suites.
For an overwhelming majority of users within larger organizations, email is an absolute necessity but the average cost of $150/year/employee is putting a strain on IT budgets. Furthermore, the projected slowdown in the economy will make our clients more cautious about their IT spending. Our models show a trend of more users being mobile-first (with remote work being mobile-only) and a growth of service-related mailboxes is creating an opportunity to help us improve our clients security while reducing their service bill.
If this sounds like a winning opportunity for your business or your clients we hope you’ll join us in building something new and awesome. Those that help us out will enjoy the service for free for a while but we have a limited number of spots depending on industry and seat count so if you’re even remotely interested please email us as soon as possible.
ExchangeDefender CEO talks email-borne threats with Cybernews
Recently, Cybernews reached out to ExchangeDefender CEO, Vlad Mazek to learn more about how we keep businesses safe from cyber-attacks using top of the line security solutions. The informative discussion centers around the topic of cybersecurity, and what that means for the modern business.
With the recent rise in phishing attacks, it is smart to double-check if it’s really your coworker that emailed you.
By now, it’s probably hard to find an Internet user who has never received emails from someone claiming to be a long-lost relative who wants to share their fortune. While the majority of us are familiar with this type of malware, phishing attacks shouldn’t be underestimated. Nowadays, when threat actors start to include more personal details, posing as coworkers or even bosses, staying vigilant is key.
To discuss the topic of cybersecurity and phishing prevention, we reached out to Vlad Mazek, the CEO of ExchangeDefender, a company eliminating email threats before they even reach your inbox.
ExchangeDefender has been providing various security solutions for more than 2 decades. What was your journey like throughout the years?
We originally started ExchangeDefender to improve the reliability of our Microsoft Exchange servers by offloading all the security tools to a more scalable infrastructure. Over the years we’ve expanded our security portfolio to protect other email servers, as well as deliver more secure ways to rely on common office tasks such as file sharing, collaboration, and compliance.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you do? What are the main problems you help solve?
We used to say “We kill SPAM for a living” and to this day we simply eliminate common threats that lead to security compromises and service outages by providing email encryption, long-term archiving & eDiscovery.
We make it easier to rely on email for secure and reliable communication; which we do by keeping potentially dangerous content away from your webmail, mailbox, desktop, or phone. Simply put, we make it easy to get things done more securely.
What technologies do you use to detect and stop threats in their tracks?
We primarily rely on our internal early warning system which tracks unusual activity from known threat actors. Because of our size and client base, we often have the luxury of being among the first to be targeted which helps us identify safe and unsafe developments before they go “viral”.
We also participate in many proprietary, open-source, and data/intel sharing projects that help raise the security profile of everyone involved.
How did the pandemic affect the cybersecurity landscape? Were there any new features added to your services?
Pandemic actually improved the security landscape for our clients because they suddenly had to shift to a remote work model which inherently came with more stringent security requirements and more awareness for security policies and secure collaboration.
We noticed a significant shift from traditional office communication methods to SMS/TXT and we moved quickly to make all of our services SMS-aware. Mobile phones have become a security identification token, a mobile presence device, and far too often a failover computer. That’s why we invested heavily in extending our services to meet our clients’ needs to go beyond just sending email messages.
What sectors (for example, financial, healthcare, etc.) do you think should put extra attention towards email security?
The best way to answer this question is to think like a hacker because for them it’s not personal, it’s business.
Organizations get compromised for one of two reasons:
- They have assets (data) that are valuable
- They have a reputation that is valuable
If you have a lot of valuable data or a trustworthy relationship with your clients, you’re a valuable target regardless of your industry. It would be difficult to hack a financial institution because they have dedicated IT and security teams, go through routine audits, and can respond to threats quickly. Compare that to a small CPA firm that uses standard tools and an antivirus bundle that came with their PC.
When it comes to cyber threats carried out via email, what are the most common ones?
Email is the most popular way to get cyber threats into an organization, according to a recent study over 90% of security compromises started with email and it has not changed significantly in the past few years: the #1 cyber threat is from spear phishing. Spear phishing is a practice of forging the identity of the sender and the look of the email to something the recipient would find trustworthy enough to click on. What has changed significantly is the end goal of spear phishing:
- Deployment of RAT (Remote Access Trojan) software
- Theft of PII (personally identifiable information)
- Theft of security credentials
This list actually flipped in the last two years mostly due to the sophistication of RAT software that can give an attacker access to the entire network instead of just a single PC or cloud account. The latest variants target UEFI bios which keep the threat in place even after you get rid of the infected hard drives. As these threats evolve, they also highlight other security issues on the network which makes them difficult to remove and require constant monitoring.
With so many teams working remotely nowadays, what are the best practices when it comes to secure file sharing?
The single most important recent advancement in overall IT security that really deserves wider adoption is the use of MFA/2FA/OTP: multi-factor authentication that requires secondary verification before accessing any sensitive system or information. Working remotely, outside of a managed network and access to IT staff, creates a new universe of security threats that should be mitigated by:
- Deploying & requiring MFA for access
- Deploying a more aggressive backup and imaging solution
- Controlling and reducing the attack surface (by limiting access only to required web sites & services)
Besides secure collaboration solutions, what other security measures do you think modern companies should invest in?
You are probably already spending too much on overlapping, redundant, and underutilized security solutions.
The best security investment you can make today is to get an audit of your existing security portfolio and its integration. Being secure doesn’t come simply from paying for a security software/service license – it has to be properly integrated, configured, and monitored in order to truly keep users away from dangerous content. Due to the chronic lack of security focus and the habit of deprioritizing security for the sake of end-user comfort, many organizations find themselves in a perilous situation with cyber insurance demands.
We are seeing organizations getting compromised not because they don’t have security solutions or adequate training but because they don’t take the time to properly and fully implement the security solutions they are already paying for. An overwhelming majority of ExchangeDefender subscribers rely on less than 30% of the security features they already pay for.
Can you give us a sneak peek into some of your future plans for ExchangeDefender?
Our biggest technical investment for 2022/2023 is to make it possible to access external content (email attachments, files, messages, sites & services) in a secure online sandbox environment where dangerous content wouldn’t even have a chance to reach the user’s desktop, phone, or network.
Our biggest investment is in the area of security audits and assessments. While there is always a shiny new tool or service that promises better security, our data indicates that it’s rarely the lack of a tool, and more often the lack of proper deployment and management of sensitive information that leads to a security compromise.
We’ve helped countless businesses that have been compromised over the years and it usually comes down to neglect of security processes combined with a lack of a plan to respond and recover from a hack. Our future plans are to help organizations change that scenario because cybersecurity isn’t something you buy, it’s something you do.
To celebrate the launch of our new small business service plans, we are currently offering 30-day free trials for any service. Interested in ExchangeDefender? Please visit www.exchangedefender.com/business to request your free trial today!
Top 5 IT challenges for small business post-pandemic
Data Security
The importance of data security has catapulted to the forefront because of the fast-moving, unforeseen Covid-19. The pandemic caused most office workers to work from home for months, and required many organizations to build remote workflows. Remote working has offered prime opportunities for hackers to take advantage of unsecured data. The safety of confidential information in the remote workforce is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve without the proper security tools, (which most businesses lack).
ExchangeDefender Corporate Encryption is the perfect solution for organizations that need to secure their company data. Employees are able to encrypt emails simply, and share documents securely with Encryption. (Ask for a demo!)
Skilled Employee Shortage
Yes, we’re in the middle of a talent shortage. Businesses are experiencing a lack of skilled employees as the pandemic, and the Great Resignation movement continues to rage on. The IT department in many businesses are suffering, with 93% of employers reporting an overall skills gap. Staffing issues in IT are creating disruptions in other parts of the business as well – making increasing productivity a dream rather than reality.
There is an opportunity for MSPs to offer IT services that organizations are unable to fulfill inhouse due to staffing. Services like cybersecurity, data storage, encryption, and disaster recovery are in very high-demand since the beginning of the pandemic. Offering businesses services that are mission-critical, and that can guarantee work productivity or continuity is vital!
Uncertain times
The COVID-19 crisis brought most businesses to a near stand-still causing major stress to business owners, and corporate CEOs alike. The future is uncertain, but what we can do is actively factor in future trends into our business growth goals. This means focusing on what the market needs (like providing solutions related to trends that are exploding), and on your customer base. The best data you have is from your current clients. Look for similarities, ask them questions along the way.
Cybersecurity threats increasing
Approximately 2,200 cyber attacks happen every day, which means every 40 seconds, a hacker gains unauthorized access to information. Company data has become one of the most valuable assets of a business. Data breaches continue to rise as hackers take advantage of vulnerabilities, particularly within the remote workforce. 68% of business leaders feel their cybersecurity risks are increasing.
The most common way of cyber-attack is through email, and every business is susceptible. 94% of malware is delivered by email, and about 50% of malicious attachments are Office files. The pandemic has brought in a new wave of cyber attacks with Phishing. In fact, 1 in 13 requests lead to malware – making it increasingly difficult to discern what is real, and what is not. Human error is driving data breaches, and organizations need to implement security measures to ensure the safety of their people and data. (Explore ExchangeDefender PRO)
Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery
When the COVID disaster first occurred, businesses realized that they did not have an active business continuity plan. This is a plan that details what to do in the event that a disaster, natural, or otherwise happens. We have experienced a significant increase in demand for email outage protection, archiving, and file sharing services. Businesses have the challenge of making sure they can still operate as usual despite disruption, or public health crisis. Organizations that take advantage of solutions that empower productivity from work or home will experience the least amount of interruption.
ExchangeDefender Latest New Releases – Mid 2021
This summer has been hot for ExchangeDefender, like really hot. Yes, we do live in sunny Orlando, but we’re raving about our newest releases. We have been focusing on making processes easier for both our partners and our clients. “Keep it simple, stupid.”, has been our motto and we hope that our new releases are a reflection of that mantra. The uncertainty and added stress that the pandemic has caused, is what inspired us to look inside of our company, how we offer our services, and support.
We created a Desktop SPAM manager.
To be fair, we created a desktop application to manage your SPAM about ten years ago. We retired it, and decided that we needed to design a new and improved management system. The ExchangeDefender Desktop SPAM Manager is a multi-platform app that works well with Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is designed to provide users SPAM notifications. The manager lets you know when there is SPAM waiting, and allows users a secure way to access, read, reply, and forward messages. Interested in getting desktop notifications? Please open a ticket at https://support.exchangedefender.com, and we’ll send you a link!
We added Starter kits to our Marketing Collateral.
Did you know that we have a special section on our website for Marketing collateral? (www.exchangedefender.com/marketing) This page features a collection of sales support tools to help our partners sell ExchangeDefender services. We recently designed Starter Kits that provide useful information on our solutions. Whether you are a new partner, or a veteran – Starter Kits contain valuable material that can be shared with prospective clients. If you are an active partner, marketing collateral is available to you for free. You can even get your sales documentation branded with your logo. Simply visit the Marketing page, and submit your request.
We were featured on CBS, FOX, and NBC news.
Recently, ExchangeDefender was showcased on several U.S news outlets for the surge of new partnerships we are experiencing. We believe that the rise of popularity for our partner program has been due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Managed Service Providers, like most other businesses, are searching for ways to lower their costs, and boost their service offerings. Our partner program is free, and has always been free with the confidence that our clients would be able to focus on building their business. ExchangeDefender hopes to build meaningful relationships with MSPs who are seeking to build their business, while keeping IT costs down. To read more about our latest news coverage, please click here.