DKG Member Lisa Olson Serves as City Alderman

One of the goals of the EEC is to empower women to impact policy and people worldwide. DKG member Lisa Olson has certainly taken that goal to heart. She was recently spotlighted on a local TV station’s feature on Remarkable Women for her work as an alderman for the city of Minot, ND. In the article, Lisa relates her disappointment when she lost her first race for city council. She turned the loss into an opportunity to teach her young daughter that one could lose with dignity and could still persevere. Lisa had this message for women: “They can do it. You don’t have to have a great background; you don’t have to have the answers to everything.” The important message from the article is that women can certainly share their voice in their local communities and make a difference in our world. We applaud Lisa for her service to her community and to DKG.

Want to know more? The full article is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lisa.nylander.olson)

(This information was taken from a KXNET.com feature re: Remarkable Women.
The story was then shared on Facebook.))

Ways to Spot Spam or Phishing Emails

 Many spam or phishing emails look like legitimate emails to the unsuspecting. A healthy dose of skepticism goes well with the adage “better safe than sorry” but there are definite tell-tale signs for which to watch. There is no single fool-proof way to avoid phishing attacks, but watch for these:

• Check the spelling or grammar. If a message is poorly written or contains grammatical errors or misspellings, it might have been translated from a foreign language. Often a phisher will change one or two letters to mimic a trusted source.
• Request for personal information. Never give out personal information through email. Refer to the sender’s website if you have questions on the legitimacy of the request.
• Discrepancies between the language of links and the URLs they direct to. Mouse over a link before clicking on it to see where the URL is directing you. The name listed might be different from the actual web address.
• Forms within emails. Phishers try to gather personal information this way.
• A sense of urgency, scare tactics, or highly emotional or charged language. “There’s a problem with your charge card that needs resolving immediately.” “I lost my pocketbook and need you to loan me some money.”

“Phishing” via SMS (text) messaging, called smishing, is gaining strength. Watch many of the same signs plus unusual numbers or references to the last 4 digits of a credit card number. Voice phishing, called vishing, has been around for years. Callers posing as IRS agents is the most common form and has scammed individuals out of millions of dollars. Watch for fear tactics, masked phone numbers, use of personal data that could be gained from social media accounts, or “too good to be true” tactics.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that people lost $57 million to phishing schemes in one year. 

If you think a scammer has your information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, go to IdentityTheft.gov. There you will see the specific steps to take based on the information that you lost.

Be vigilant. When in doubt, don’t.

Consider Membership in DKG During this Time

Although many of us are still sheltering-in-place, don’t think this isn’t a good time to look for new members! Have you had the unique opportunity to sit in on a lesson your child or grandchild has had virtually with their teacher(s)? Is there someone that you think is doing a fantastic job and would be a great member? In this time when people are not running out to events outside the home and may have more time to consider membership in DKG consider calling or emailing prospective members and sharing information on the Society.
Everything you need to explain about the Society can be found on the website under the Resources tab https://tinyurl.com/ybbhxhpf

Tips for Avoiding Phishing

Phishing is email designed to harm an individual or company by obtaining sensitive or personal information. It is created to look like a legitimate email from a trusted sender, such as recent emails claiming to be from state or international officers. Two common phishing emails using DKG officers’ names asked for gift cards or if the recipient had an Amazon account. Phishing scams have recently involved Covid-19-related requests.

Members can protect themselves from phishing emails by following these tips:
• Know the common signs of spam and phishing emails.
• Not providing personal information via email.
• Not opening emails from unknown senders.
• Check the email address if it says it is from an officer but asks for money or personal information.
• Use varying passwords.
• Keep anti-virus software up to date.
• Avoid clicking on pop-ups

Bottom line regarding phishing emails is for the recipient to be careful and vigilant about knowing the sender and not clicking on or responding to anything questionable. When in doubt, don’t!