May 3, 2017

Don’t open that email.

Journalists and others on Wednesday were ensnared in what appears to be a widespread phishing attack from the address “hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator.com,” while others took to Twitter to warn others:

Related Training: Digital Security for Journalists

https://twitter.com/RosieGray/status/859850396788981760

I was sent the Mailinator email twice in less than an hour, from two sources on the media beat, which means journalists have already fallen prey to the scam.

To avoid having your account compromised, don’t click on the email, obviously. If you have clicked it, here’s what to do, per Hack Club founder Zach Latta.

A representative from Gmail said the company is investigating the attack.

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Benjamin Mullin was formerly the managing editor of Poynter.org. He also previously reported for Poynter as a staff writer, Google Journalism Fellow and Naughton Fellow,…
Benjamin Mullin

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