How to spot spam or scam emails
In the past, phishing attempts have been received by PetRescue members as emails and enquiries through a pet listing. In these attempts, the scammer has tried to impersonate a PetRescue team member and asked members to share their passwords or link their PetRescue account with their Facebook page.
It’s important to note that an official PetRescue email will always come from a PetRescue domain (either "@petrescue.com.au” or "@petrescue.org.au"). Variations of PetRescue's official email info@petrescue.org.au, such as petrescue@gmail.com or petrescue.admin@gmail.com, are not affiliated with PetRescue Ltd. and could be untrustworthy. We would advise you to block any of these email addresses immediately and refrain from clicking on any links in the email.
Additionally, PetRescue staff will never ask for your password.
If you have any concerns regarding emails from or about PetRescue we urge you to reach out to our team.
Tips to steer clear of potential scammers
- Set up individual accounts for every member of your team
- Ensure that you keep a check of your PetRescue account admins and have a record of everyone who has your main account's login details
- If you can’t access your account, reset your password. If you still face any obstacles, contact us immediately at members@petrescue.org.au.
- Use the PetRescue conversation tools for any correspondence with potential adopters
- If your listed pet has an adoption fee, it is always more secure to have a PayPal account set up to receive payments
- It’s always good to have a website or social media page with information about your organisation, along with helpful details such as email, phone, and a bio.
- If you use your website for adoption forms or donations, make sure you get an SSL certificate. When installed on a web server, it activates the little padlock icon on the left of the URL and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. This helps adopters and donors trust your website and steer clear of fraudulent ones with similar domain names
Protect against Phishing scams
Two-factor authentication (2FA) has been automatically enabled on all members’ accounts and adds an extra layer of security to the existing login process. If this is not enabled on your account, we strongly recommend doing so. You can find out more here and enable this on your account.
Another safeguard is to use anti-phishing applications and plugins such as Netcraft, which can give you specific details about a website, including its risk rating, ranking, and date created.