2020 Phishing Notices

Recently, Enterprise Technology Services, the state technology agency and WRS Security has seen a rise in phishing emails that originate from addresses that attempt to look like a person from within the State of Wyoming.  Attackers create an email account with an identical name, but a different email service. For example, an attacker might pretend to be user@wyo.gov by creating an email account for user@gmail.com.  Most legitimate organizations will not contact you from an address that ends ‘@gmail.com’.

Unfortunately, the State of Wyoming does not have the ability to turn off the phony accounts that are pretending to be a @wyo.gov employee.  This is because they are not actual accounts the State controls, instead it is a private email that they want you to think is from a State of Wyoming email account.  We will continue to block fake email addresses as they are reported. The only remedy for this type of attack is for you to continue to be diligent. Remember your phishing training:

• First look at the email sender’s name and the part after the @ symbol to determine if it is real.  This means making sure an email from your State of Wyoming sender actually comes from @wyo.gov and not gmail, yahoo, or any others.

• Second, read the message; if it seems weird, something is probably wrong.

• Third, be very careful with attachments and links; if you have doubts don’t click it.

• Finally, if you think something is not quite right, check in with the sender personally to see if the message is legitimate.

If you receive a phishing email regarding your WRS pension, do not provide your password or click through any of the links. Contact us at 307-777-7691.