<div dir="ltr"><div>
<div class="gmail-bcma-col gmail-col-12 gmail-mb-4 gmail-col-lg-12 gmail-b--blue-25"><p class="gmail-mb-3">Spam
calls, scams, and phishing are all common tactics cybercriminals use to
attempt to steal personal and financial information from you or your
organization. These attempts are becoming increasingly sophisticated and
more frequent, so we all need to be on the lookout and stay vigilant
when something looks or sounds… fishy.</p>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">Recently, the BCMA has been made aware by current and
former board and committee members of fraudulent emails and calls
received in their email inboxes and on their phones. Those targeted
attempts have used correct personal information and might at first
glance appear to be from a legitimate source.</p>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">We continuously work with our web development agency,
our membership platform provider and our insurance company to ensure
that our systems are safe and up-to-date with current security
standards. Our membership platform provider holds all membership
information on servers located in secure data centers, in which the
servers are regularly scanned for threats and vulnerabilities and
protected with firewalls to prevent unauthorized connections. All member
accounts are password protected, and all passwords are encrypted (i.e.,
never stored in clear text). Account logins also have brute-force login
protection to prevent individuals/bots from attempting to guess a
password too many times. There is no concern about a security breach or
information leak in BCMA systems.</p>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">At the BCMA, we <b>never</b> contact members with the following requests:</p>
<ul><li>Asking for passwords or personal information to be shared via email or over the phone</li><li>Asking members to click on suspicious links to verify
information or confirm membership on platforms other than
<a href="http://members.museum.bc.ca">members.museum.bc.ca</a></li><li>Asking for payment of fees or any charges through a
third-party financial provider other than our existing payment portals
through <a href="http://members.museum.bc.ca">members.museum.bc.ca</a></li><li>Asking current or former board members or members-at-large to approve financial transfers or transactions</li></ul>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">If you are unsure if a communication attempt is truly
from the BCMA, contact us! Write a new email (do not respond to the
suspicious message you received and do not forward it) and include a
screenshot or photo of the initial message, or call and leave us a
voicemail. Our contact information is listed at the bottom of <a href="https://museum.bc.ca/">our website</a> and a human BCMA team member will get back to you as soon as possible.</p>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">The BCMA encourages all members to revisit their
personal and organizational cybersecurity practices. In the same way you
ensure your insurance policies are up to date and that your building is
secure, you should regularly review your virtual presence and the
safety of your personal and financial information.</p>
<p class="gmail-mb-3">There are a variety of trusted sources that offer
training, support, and resources on how to stay safe and protect
yourself, please find a few helpful links on the bottom of this page: <a href="https://museum.bc.ca/phishing-cybersecurity/"><b>https://museum.bc.ca/phishing-cybersecurity/</b></a><br></p><p class="gmail-mb-3">Feel free to bookmark the page or share with your circles.<br><br></p>
</div>
</div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102)"><br></span></div><div><font color="#888888"><div><font size="2"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font color="#888888">The BC Museums Association office is located on the traditional, unceded lands of the <a href="https://vimeo.com/275788251" target="_blank">Lekwungen</a>
peoples (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations). We respect past, present, and
future Indigenous stewards and recognize that we are uninvited guests on
this territory.</font> <br></span></font></div><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><br></font></div><div><p style="margin:0in 0in 1pt;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="color:rgb(237,125,49);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">BC Museums Association || 675 Belleville Street || Victoria, BC || V8W 9W2</span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 1pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="color:rgb(237,125,49);font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.museum.bc.ca/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">museum.bc.ca<br></a></span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 1pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><font size="2"><font color="#888888"><b><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68)"></span></b></font></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 1pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"><font color="#888888"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><i><span style="color:rgb(80,166,132)"></span></i></font></span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 1pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:11pt"><font color="#888888"><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102);font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><i><span style="color:rgb(80,166,132)"></span></i></font></span></font></p></div></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>