Phishing emails are fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information from users such as usernames, passwords, credit card details, and other personal information. They are often used for malicious reason and disguised as a trustworthy entity.
These fake emails may include contest, surveys, termination of services, or other attempts to obtain personal information.
To better protect yourself from phishing emails here are some things you should know,
- The "From" email address in an email can be spoofed to appear as any address. Always exercise caution if an email is asking for personal or account information.
- CityWest employees all use the "@cwct.ca" domain for their email, not the "@citywest.ca" domain that customers use.
- CityWest does occasionally send surveys and promotional emails to its customers. We will use the addresses marketing@cwct.ca, sales@cwct.ca, or contests@citywest.ca for these emails.
- Some "phishermen" will purchase email domains that look similar to legitimate ones. For example someone could purchase "@cvvct" which looks similar at a glance to "@cwct.ca"
- CityWest representatives will never ask for the a customer’s social insurance number when contacting them directly. In some cases a CityWest representatives may ask a customer for their date of birth, such as adding a service or contract to the account. However, our representatives will only ask for this information after the customer requests a change to their services.
- Ensure that your devices are kept up-to-date with legitimate upgrade from the software vendor.
- Ensure spam filters are enabled with your email client.
If you are unsure of the legitimacy of an email you receive from CityWest or one of its representatives please call us at 1-800-442-8664 to verify.
Below is an example of a phishing email meant to obtain the user's personal information. Please note that this is not from a CityWest employee as we use the "@cwct.ca" domain, not "@citywest.ca"
