Connecticut businesses should be wary of an email that pretends to come from the state's Business Services Division and asks recipients to retrieve a document, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas warned Oct. 21.
The message uses a subject line identifying the Connecticut Office of the Secretary of the State and its Business Services Division. It asks the recipient to download an attachment and enter a file-access code for a supposed DocuSafe Secure Portal, according to the office.
The state says recipients should not reply, open attachments or follow the message's links. Business owners who need to make a filing should navigate directly to Business.CT.gov instead of using an email link.
The warning concerns phishing: messages designed to trick people into handing over information or opening harmful content by imitating a trusted sender. The office advises checking the actual sender by hovering over or clicking the message's from address.
Emails from the Secretary of the State's office always come from addresses ending in @ct.gov, the office says. Lookalike endings with an extra letter or a hyphen are not official, the office says. Even a message appearing to use @ct.gov can contain a suspicious link. The office says it does not require businesses to follow email links to complete filings and warns against sharing Business.CT.gov login credentials.
Sources: Secretary Thomas Warns Businesses of Phishing Email Impersonating State Business Services Division.