Phishing Emails

So called phishing emails are sent to your inbox with the sole purpose of gaining personal information, that is then to be most likely used to defraud you. With this in mind, these kinds of emails will come from financial related sources, such as your Bank, Building Society and PayPal.

How to spot phishing emails

These emails will usually not contain your name, as they are sent out to tens of thousands of people.  The email will start along the lines of “Dear Customer” or “Dear valued member”.  They will then continue to describe there being a problem with your account, or that you have restricted access.  The email most commonly will have an attachment or link to click, that the sender claims will resovle this problem.

NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CLICK ON SUCH A LINK OR ATTACHMENT OR REPLY TO THE SENDER.

It is part of the email that can be dangerous to your security. The links most usually take you to a third party website.

So, what do I do?

Report the email. Even if it happens to be from a bank that you have no connections with and so is obviously a scam, then please take the time to report it still. It only takes a few seconds and helps the ongoing battle to keep people safe online and bring those who send these emails to justice.  Banking and financial holders like PayPal have email addresses to froward the emails to. After this, they can investigate them. All you have to do is forward the email as you received it and then delete it from your computer altogether. Remember, don’t ever click on the attachments or links. Lets stay safe online.

Reporting spoof or scam email addresses

Here are some of the most common companies the phishing emails claim to be from and their specific email addresses to report the scam emails to. Remember, forward the suspected fraudulent email to here, then delete it.

PayPal – spoof@paypal.com
Halifax – security@halifax.co.uk
Lloyds TSB – emailscams@lloydstsb.co.uk
Royal Bank of Scotland – phishing@rbs.co.uk
Santander – phishing@santander.co.uk
Natwest – phishing@natwest.com

Editor

This can be devastating to a genuine email marketing company, who have compiled a genuine list through offline work or subscriptions at their website. Of course, I am not suggesting to never use this button. In some cases, it is more than justified, when emails for illegitimate pharmaceuticals or adult material come along. However, just take a second and think if there is any chance you may have signed up at some point before hitting the spam button in your email client. If you have, or you are looking for an alternative, just use the unsubscribe option. This is usually made apparent in the email and you can always re-subscribe at a further date if you wanted to. Either way, unsubscribing removes you safely from the list , prevents any further emails and is a lot kinder to the email sender!

Editor

For other ways to help improve your search engine placings in the local Northampton area, you can talk to one of our team, anytime on 01933 623946.

So what exactly is website hosting? Web hosting, or web space, is the service that that allows these files to be shared on a server provided by a hosting company. A server is a specific computer designed to process and deliver data across a local network or across the internet. Without allocated space on a server, there is nowhere to transfer all these necessary files.

As for charging for hosting, there will be many options available. Packages can be purchased monthly or yearly but whichever option you choose, the payments must be kept, otherwise the hosting can be removed and your website will be taken down. When you begin your website project with DS Web Designs, your first three months of web site hosting are completely free! After that, the charge is very competitive at  just £7 per month.

Another important note is that if you ever transfer your website to a different service provider, try to get some sort of backup from your web designer of the files. Once you are transferred, that is it for most companies, they will erase any existing data.

With DS Web Designs, if you ever decide to move away to another hosting provider, we will always give you the latest copy of your files on disc. We also offer the first three months of hosting with us for free.

If you would like more information on our web design packages, then please call us today on 01933 623946.

Editor

Over recent weeks, we have been working with Gavin James Burke. Gavin is a locally based performer, who has sung for many famous people and also acted in local and national shows. The project was very exciting and involved many different elements. Ultimately, we designed the logo, brand new website and a customised YouTube channel for Gavin.

It was important for Gavin to interact with the visitors to his website, via text, images and samples of his recordings. We achieved this using a customised music player, moving slideshow and samples of his Biography text, so there was something for everyone. Into the site, a more complex photo gallery, using a Jquery feature to portray thumbnail and full size images. The site was really bought to life with these interactive features.

The logo needed to be clear and stylish an incorporates the website’s main colour scheme. In addition, the signature “GJB” signifies a modern twist, reflected in some of the modern cover versions Gavin has recorded.

The YouTube project was very exciting.  Taking one of the wonderful pictures (photographed by Aaron Collett) , we used it as a still for the video and accompanied it with the recording of U2′s Beautiful Day. This was set as the channels featured video and is already receiving hits. The channel itself has been styled to fit in with the website, so branding is both recogniseable and consistent.

The whole project went live this week and can be seen in our portfolio.

We hope you enjoy it!

A decade on and it is incredible to think how much has altered. “Google it” is a phrase you hear every day. Social networking sites dominate the Internet and usage of them is a big part of everyday life.  Every advert prompts you to their website.  The web has integrated itself into our lives and being a part of it is virtually essential for your business.

So, what makes a good website? A website needs to be easy to use. Chances are, yours may be one of many sites a potential customer looks at whilst searching for a particular query. With that in mind, the information they are looking for needs to be readily available. Navigation menus need to be clearly visible and preferably not obstructed with other elements of the site.

It is also important for the web page to load fast. Slow loading times can cost you business, as people can become frustrated and click to another website. Elements such as Flash content and heavy javascript can sometimes look very appealing, but if people don’t wait around to get to see them, then they are almost useless to you.

Content, or text, is also key to convey your message but also in your local and national search engine optimisation. Again, a lot of image based content may look good in some instances, but cannot be seen by Search Engines. So be sure to include a good ratio of text.

Keeping the website up to date is also important. If a visitor sees out of date information or even worse, mistakes, it does not inspire confidence in you or your company.

A website can be a vital part of your business and hopefully a you will find a few of these suggestions useful if you are considering designing or wanting a website.

Editor

After the re-launch, it has been back to client work over the Bank Holiday! We are very excited to be working with local based singer Gavin James Burke, whose website is developing with a full range of audio samples and photographs. Also, we have recently started on local jewelers Natalie, based in Northampton.

Our email marketing services continue as well, with a busy week last week assisting with the delivery of the Halfords campaigns over a busy Bank Holiday period. Also, the next Fitness Superstore campaign will be designed this week. It is all go!

If you have a project that you think we can assist on, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01933 623946.

Thank you.

Editor.

Shuffle comes with 5 awesome color styles that can be easily switched from the theme options page. Choose the one that fits your visual identity the best…