I’ve said it 1,000 times. Never, ever click an email link from an unfamiliar sender. Never, ever, ever log into their website using one of your social media passwords. Both actions are the equivalent of handing your house keys to a total stranger, then watching what happens next.
This morning, I received an email from something called Connect.Me. Make no mistake—this isn’t the same as trusted About.Me (which begs the question: Was that intentional?).
Here’s the email—click the image to enlarge:
I’ve never heard of Connect.Me, so the fact they insinuated we’d been in contact before (by apologizing for being quiet) raised a red flag.
Same for the part about having logged in before, using my LinkedIn account. Uhhhh…no. Haven’t logged into them, haven’t heard of them, haven’t even remotely considered handing my LinkedIn login info to an unknown entity.
Turns out I’m not the only one who smells something fishy (or half-baked, depending on whose story you believe). Are they legit? Maybe. Are they misleading? Yup. See email, above.
Are they going to get me as a customer? No way.
Color me crazy, but any promotion that relies on “stealth” activity in their promotion or sign up process is getting kicked to the virtual curb. Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels that way—highly regarded security experts at Sophos agree, in spades.
Transparency is vital, given how easily a hacker can hide behind a legit looking email, then hammer your social media accounts.
Is Connect.Me legit? Who cares? They burned the trust bridge down with a misleading email, followed by a bare bones website.
Learning moment
If you ask customers to sign up for something:
(a) only use an opt-in mailing list where recipients have signed up to receive your emails;
(b) offer a non-social media login option; and
(c) be extremely transparent on your website about both your privacy policy and how personal information will be used.
Omitting any of the three risks landing you on someone else’s blacklist or blog.
Click here to tell me what you think....
Cinda,
Thanks for this reminder to never “hand our housekeys to a stranger.”
Another red flag with emails like this are the ones that have no way for you to unsubscribe. Of course, that’s because you didn’t subscribe in the first place.
What I do with these is to set up a filter that deletes them on sight if they are bold enough to send more.
It’s amazing how vigilant we must be.