Staying safe online: how to prevent phishing and online fraud
Phishing and other forms of online scams are becoming increasingly common and are often difficult to recognise. At Helan, we believe it is important to inform and protect you, as our customer.
What is phishing?
Phishing is a form of online fraud in which scammers try to trick you into revealing personal information, such as passwords or bank details. They often do this via fake emails or text messages that appear to come from a trustworthy organisation, such as Helan. With an urgent message and fake links, they try to direct you to a counterfeit website. In this way, they attempt to obtain sensitive information, such as passwords or bank details.
How can you recognise fake emails?
Fake emails, also known as phishing emails, try to trick you into sharing personal information, clicking on a malicious link or making a payment. General characteristics of phishing emails:
Phishing messages often come from strange sender addresses. Helan always sends emails from reliable email addresses ending in @helan.be, @mailings.helan.be, @accounts.helan.be or @notifications.helan.be. In addition, we work with many commercial partners and it is possible that you may receive reliable emails from them. If you receive an email from a different email address, be alert! Below are some examples of unreliable email addresses:
Do the check
How do you verify the authenticity of an email? Follow the steps below.
Fake addresses often look very similar to the real ones, but have small differences.
Move your mouse over the link and look at the URL at the bottom of your screen. A legitimate link always refers to a reliable address, such as www.helan.be.
Helan sends everything in the same style. Does the email look different from what you are used to from Helan? Then it may be phishing.
Emails from Helan in your spam folder? Here's how to fix it!
Sometimes, legitimate emails end up in your spam folder. This is due to spam filters, which can be quite strict.
If you see an email from Helan in your “Junk mail” or “Spam” folder, click on the email and mark it as safe, not junk or not spam. This will ensure that our future emails end up in your inbox.
What should you do if you have doubts?
If you do not trust an email, do not click on any links or open any attachments. These may contain malicious software or steal personal information. Check the current status of your file and invoices on My Helan or contact us to verify the email.
Do you know what to look out for in suspicious emails? Take the test via Safeonweb and find out for yourself.
What if your data has been leaked?
Have you accidentally clicked on a phishing link or shared data? If so, change your passwords for the affected platforms and contact your bank to check whether any suspicious transactions have taken place. You can read about other actions you can take on Safeonweb.
Was the name Helan used in a phishing attempt? Be sure to let us know. This will help us remain alert and warn other customers in good time.
Other forms of phishing
Fraudsters try to obtain sensitive information not only via email, but also through other channels. Be alert for these too!
- Phone calls: fraudsters call you pretending to be from Helan and ask for sensitive information.
- Text messages: you receive a suspicious text message with a link.
- Fake websites: websites that look like helan.be but are designed to steal data.