If you’ve read our post on SSL, you know that it offers important encryption protections of communications between your visitors and your website. Many clients look for the little lock image and/or the httpS at the beginning of your URL, and may quickly leave for security reasons if you don’t have it on your website.
We at StarTunz offer full-service SSL purchase, installation, and testing. And, as you probably know, your website’s SSL is good for one year; a new SSL is purchased, installed and tested each year. (For security purposes, you can’t renew and re-use an SSL, therefore a new one is installed each year.
If you use our services, we will remind you when your SSL is ready to expire and a new one purchased. As with most of our servies, you can also subscribe to a yearly SSL auto-pay, which will insure that you never) company forget to purhase your new SSL in time.
So imagine my surprise when a client forwarded me an email from a random (probably phony) company. The email, similar to those fake messages about registration of your site, told the reader that their SSL was about to expire in a couple of days, (it wasn’t). The email message demanded immediate payment of 295.00, plus an extra 150 for “rush install”. What???
While it’s true that SSL installation requires some skill, there is no reason on earth for an SSL to cost this much. And, since the SSL in question was not purchased through the “company” shown on the email, it set off red flags.
Yes, it was a fake. If the client had clicked on the link, they might have been asked to submit important information like passwords, and then they might have inputted a credit card number to “renew” their SSL. You see the danger here, right?
Remember, we’ll email you when its time to renew (unless you’ve subscribed to annual SSL service). Our emails come from the same email address that serve up all communications with StarTunz, generally with a short personal note, that lets you know for sure that it’s from us. If you’re in doubt, you can also just visit our website and purchase your SSL directly. And, you can always email or call us to confirm.
When in doubt about questionable emails, just contact us. We’re always happy to help!