Dear NSN Members,
Scammers are using some of the publicly available email addresses listed on our website to target a phishing attempt to a small number of NSN members. This person sent out requests for gift cards to “help veterans in hospice care” and “the organization” using my name. I did not send this email. Know that staff is working diligently with our website team to prevent future attacks as much as possible.
That email is a phishing attempt. If you received it, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO IT and definitely do not buy any gift cards or send gift card info to that email address. Instead, respond to everyone that received that email (except the sender) and forward this message to them. Then, report it as a phishing attempt to your email provider.
How can you know what is really from NSN? First, always look at the reply email. If it is from anyone within NSN, it should either come from an email address you know (like your Regional Director), or from someone with an @storynet.org email address. Note that the email address that sent out this attack is neither my personal email address nor my email, which I use for official NSN business.
Second, know that NSN will never ask you to buy gift cards on our behalf. This is a common internet scam, much like the phone calls you have undoubtedly received telling you that your car’s extended warranty is about to expire. If you would like to make a donation to NSN, please visit our secure website, storynet.org/donate.
Third, know that official NSN emails will almost always send you to our website, storynet.org. We would never ask you to personally send us information or donations – it should always go through the office and our secure website.
So, what happened? There are bots that can easily scan a website for email addresses. They are then putting those email addresses into small batches (to avoid detection by your email filters) and using my name (but not my email address) and a heartfelt (but not well-worded) email to pull at your heart strings.
Staff and our web developers will be looking into this to learn more details. We will continue to be in communication via @storynet.org email addresses.
Know that phishing attempts cannot be fully prevented. Bots search through every website, pulling information as they go. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that our website is secure. Unfortunately, phishing is a part of life, and since many of us need to have ways for the general public to contact us, it is unavoidable. We can, however, know the warning signs and make sure not to be lured by them. Find out more about phishing at https://www.phishing.org/what-is-phishing.
We appreciate your continued support of NSN and apologize for this inconvenience. Our goal is to support you and continue to promote storytellers while we figure this out. We will be in touch as we find out more information.
Sincerely,
Katie Knutson
Chair, Board of Directors
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