Don’t Be an April Fool

MONROE, La., March 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL, news, filings), which is dedicated to protecting its customers’ Internet experience, is releasing tips and information to avoid being fooled by common scams.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090602/DA26511LOGO)

Some email users have lost money to bogus offers that arrived as spam in their in-box. Con artists are very cunning; they know how to make their claims seem legitimate. Some spam urges you to sign up for a service. Other scams invite you to a website or request that you verify personal information, such as social security or credit card numbers. To help you avoid scams like these, review these tips:

• Protect your personal information. Share credit card or other personal information only when you’re buying from a company you know and trust.
• Know who you’re dealing with. Don’t do business with any company that won’t provide its name, street address, and telephone number.
• Take your time. Resist any urge to “act now” despite the offer and the terms. Once you turn over your money, you may never get it back.
• Read the fine print. Get it in writing and review terms carefully before signing anything or sending payment.
• Never pay for a “free” gift. Disregard any offer that asks you to pay for a gift or prize.

CenturyLink offers filtering software that can limit the spam in your email inbox. In addition, filtering these top 10 scams from your email will help limit spam: email scams from other countries, phishing, work-at-home scams, weight loss claims, foreign lotteries, cure-all products, check overpayment scams, pay-in-advance credit offers, debt relief, and investment schemes.

If you receive an email that you think may be fraudulent, forward it to spam@centurylink.net. Also, if the email appears to be impersonating a bank or other company, forward the message to that company to make them aware of the problem.

For additional information about how to protect your personal information when you are online, review these seven practices for computer security: http://security.centurylink.net/article/7-practices-for-computer-security.

About CenturyLink

CenturyLink is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States. The company provides broadband, voice, wireless and managed services to consumers and businesses across the country. It also offers advanced entertainment services under the CenturyLink™ Prism™ TV and DIRECTV brands. In addition, the company provides data, voice and managed services to enterprise, government and wholesale customers in local, national and select international markets through its high-quality advanced fiber optic network and multiple data centers. CenturyLink is recognized as a leader in the network services market by key technology industry analyst firms, and is a global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises through Savvis, a CenturyLink company. CenturyLink’s customers range from Fortune 500 companies in some of the country’s largest cities to families living in rural America. Headquartered in Monroe, La., CenturyLink is an S&P 500 company and is included among the Fortune 500 list of America’s largest corporations. For more information, visit www.centurylink.com.

SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc.