Beware Gmail Scam

Issue #1092 Jan. 21, 2017
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

1. Beware Gmail Scam
2. 7 Journalism Trends to Watch
3. Clever “About Us” Pages
4. Hound Video of the Week

This Weekend in the Hound House:

I’m still in awe of those massive ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet and can hardly wait to board the “Freedom of the Seas” at about 11 a.m. today for the fourth annual Publishing at Sea cruise. We’ll meet each other and our books at a reception at 3:30. Tomorrow we’re at sea, headed to Haiti, on our first daylong teaching day. Check my blog for daily updates.

1. Beware Gmail Phishing Scam

A frighteningly effective Gmail phishing scam is tricking users, even techies, into revealing their usernames and passwords.

The attacker, who looks like a trusted contact, sends a boobytrapped email to a prospective victim. It looks as though there’s a typical attachment, such as a PDF. Nothing looks suspicious.

The attachment is actually an embedded image that looks like a PDF. When clicked, that embedded image links out to a fake Google login page. It gets even nastier.

To do: Read the article in Fortune magazine on how “Everyone Is Falling For This Frighteningly Effective Gmail Scam.” Be sure to watch the video on the 5 most common passwords people are using. One of them is 123456789. Clever.

#phishingscams #gmailscam

2. 7 Journalism Trends to Watch

Before long, we might be pitching a story specifically for publication on Snapchat.

Selfie journalism will be more prevalent this year, says Taylor Lorenz, director of emerging platforms at The Hill. Live streams on social media platforms can reach a larger audience than a writeup or even video.

That’s one of seven predictions by journalists, editors and other key figures who responded to Nieman Lab’s annual Predictions for Journalism.

The survey also said that headlines matter more than ever. That’s because thousands of clicks can be profitable.

To do: Read “5 journalism predictions for 2017 from Nieman’s Lab. You can see all the predictions here.

#journalismtrends #selfies

3. Clever “About Us” Pages

One of the most overlooked but powerful pages at your website is your “About Us.” page.

If you’re like me, when you’re searching for information, the “About Us” page is one of the first links you click when you land on a company’s digital doorstep.

Before you redo yours, you’ll find ideas that you can borrow in Hubspot’s list of “10 About Us Page Examples That Are Probably Better Than Yours.” 

#aboutus #aboutuspage

4. Hound Video of the Week

So you think you can dance? This man and his dog put together a mini performance where they mirrored one another’s dance moves in an incredible salsa dancing routine.

[Tweet “RT @PublicityHound #PublicityTips –Beware Gmail Scam #phishingscams #gmailscam”]