Taken directly from an email sent by the Department of Veterans Affairs on 07 March 2022:
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If you receive a suspicious email from the Department of Veterans Affairs, DO NOT open the email or click on any attachments or links. VA does not send emails asking for personal information, threatening emails, or emails claiming to take adverse actions on claimants or beneficiaries (jail or lawsuits). If you receive any of these emails or are in doubt about any communications appearing to be from VA, please contact VA directly at 1 (800) 827-1000.
Phishing is a type of cyber-attack where the attacker sends a message designed to deceive a person and convince them to reveal sensitive information to the attacker. It is the most common means attackers use to gain unauthorized access to a device to obtain sensitive information.
Phishing emails can come from an unfamiliar sender or familiar looking sender with an email address that is off by a few letters. Additionally, phishing emails can include large or “too good to be true” offers or attachments.
VA takes the security of Veterans seriously.
For more information, please see this YouTube video of VA’s Office of Financial Management, Chief Financial Officer Charles Tapp II, on the proactive measures VA has taken to protect and prevent fraudulent activity and how you can protect your finances and personal data from fraud.
VA blogs also have information to help you stay vigilant at work and in your personal life and provide additional information on how phishing attacks are getting even more sophisticated.
You can find more information to help keep you cybersafe at Cybercrime Support Network and the Scam Spotter organization.
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I highly suggest taking the time to read through the linked resources in an effort to increase your level of personal security awareness. We need to understand what of our information is available and how this information is being used, whether intentional or not. Be a little more skeptical and you just might save yourself or a loved one a lot of headaches down the road. That last link is a great starting point for understanding how to spot scams.
