Emissions Trading: Attention about phishing email!
Dear Madam or Sir,
if you received e-mails containing the request to visit a homepage via a link and to enter your user data of the registry, we ask you to not further take notice of it. Neither the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at the Federal Environment Agency nor the European Commission are sender of these messages. It is a so-called “phishing-attack”. The made-up word “phishing” refers to the words “password” and “fishing” and can be translated as “password fishing”.
DEHSt does not send you any e-mails in which your registry’s user data is queried. Should you have received such an e-mail it is in all likelihood a phishing email.
To be protected against such attacks please always consider the following points:
(1) Check the security certifcate of the website. A double-click on the lock symbol in the status indicator line of the browser opens a window showing information about the originator (owner) of the website. To ensure that your data is transmitted on the proper site, please check if
- the name given in the securtiy certificate matches the name of the website you have requested.
- it was certificated by a reliable party (certfication body).
- the certificate is valid.
The security certificate of the German Emissions Trading Registry is shown in Firefox as follows:
Registerzertifikat
Source: Deutsche Emissionshandelsstelle (DEHSt) im Umweltbundesamt
(2) Check if the website is secured before you enter critical data. The URL shall always begin with “https://” and not with “http://”. Please be aware that “Phisher” can imitate the address bar, so that you possibly see a fake URL. You will get more protection when observing rule (1).
(3) Provide the software of the browser with regular security updates. Please consider the current information of 15/01/2010 of the BSI (Federal Office for Information Security) to use alternative web browser due to a security lapse in the Internet Explorer.
In case that you responded to the phishing-attack und have entered your user name and password on an external website, we advice you to go to the following site www.register.dehst.de (see security advices above) and to enter your correct user name and a wrong password three times. Thereby your access to the registry will be locked. You can receive a new password from DEHSt.
Further information
Please address your enquiries about emissions trading preferably by e-mail to emissionstrading@dehst.de. For any further questions you may also call our service hotline at +49-30-8903 5050, Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
We are looking forward to a beneficial and effective collaboration with you.
Yours faithfully,
For the Federal Environment Agency
Dr. Hans-Jürgen Nantke
Head of the German Emissions Trading Authority at the Federal Environment Agency
- volume.
- 01
- date of issue:
- 28 January 2010