What are pretexting and phishing?
Pretexting, sometimes referred to as "social engineering", refers to the act of misrepresenting yourself (a pretext) so you can get someone else’s private information. Often a pretexter will have some accurate basic information (such as your mailing address) before making the call, and by using that information can gain other information.
The practice is sometimes used by fraudsters to try to gain access to Bell customers’ accounts.
Bell is very concerned about protecting your privacy and has safeguards in place to ensure that your information is not disclosed to an unauthorized third party. This is why you are always asked to confirm certain personal information when you call us regarding your account.
Phishing is the use of phoney email messages, pop-up windows and fraudulent Web sites designed to trick people into divulging personal and financial information. The logos and design styles of well-known companies are often used to try to trick customers into thinking the site is safe. Phishers often circulate emails containing forms and links to Web sites that look as though they belong to companies such as Bell.
Protect yourself: you should be sceptical of unsolicited requests for personal information. Shred personal documents before you recycle them, and be very cautious about the information you post on the Internet.
Last Updated:28/05/2012
Is bell.ca a secure Web site?
Yes. Bell.ca uses SSL encryption which protects your personal information when it is being sent via the Internet. SSL encrypts the data between your computer and the server so that no one else can read the exchanged information.
Last Update:28/05/2012
What is spam filtering?
“Spam” is any unsolicited bulk electronic message.
Apart from being annoying, spam has the potential to be dangerous to your computer and to your privacy. Most email programs have built-in filters that can help you separate spam from regular email.Last Update:28/05/2012
What are pretexting and phishing?
Pretexting, sometimes referred to as "social engineering", refers to the act of misrepresenting yourself (a pretext) so you can get someone else’s private information. Often a pretexter will have some accurate basic information (such as your mailing address) before making the call, and by using that information can gain other information.
The practice is sometimes used by fraudsters to try to gain access to Bell customers’ accounts.
Bell is very concerned about protecting your privacy and has safeguards in place to ensure that your information is not disclosed to an unauthorized third party. This is why you are always asked to confirm certain personal information when you call us regarding your account.
Phishing is the use of phoney email messages, pop-up windows and fraudulent Web sites designed to trick people into divulging personal and financial information. The logos and design styles of well-known companies are often used to try to trick customers into thinking the site is safe. Phishers often circulate emails containing forms and links to Web sites that look as though they belong to companies such as Bell.
Protect yourself: you should be sceptical of unsolicited requests for personal information. Shred personal documents before you recycle them, and be very cautious about the information you post on the Internet.
Last Update:28/05/2012
How do I know if an email is really from Bell?
Bell communicates with customers through email regularly, and we have rules about requesting personal information as well as what we include in attachments.
Genuine emails from the Bell companies may include:
- Links to pages related to Bell services.
- Notification of changes to your service, and virus or security alerts. We'll always refer you to pages on bell.ca for more information.
- Marketing and promotional offers, including contests.
- A customer survey or a link to a customer survey site.
- A request for permission to send you information on Bell products and services and those of its third party business partners.
Our email will never include:
- Requests for personal information such as passwords, PIN numbers, banking or credit card information (unless we are responding to an initial telephone inquiry from you).
- Direct links to virus removal tools. Instead, we will direct you to internet.bell.ca for detailed instructions on how to remove a virus.
- Executable (.exe) file attachments (programs).
- Files you need to click to open, such as Microsoft Word documents or compressed (.zip) files (unless we are responding to an initial telephone inquiry from you).
Last Update:28/05/2012
The Bell Privacy Policy
The Bell Privacy Policy spells out the commitments of the Bell Companies and the rights of customers regarding personal information. It complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and details how we implement the principles of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Code.
View the full text of the privacy policy.
Last Update:28/05/2012