Today I got an email from Lucky Brand thanking me for my order.
I didn’t place an order to Lucky Brand.
I’ve seen the company in the mall but never shopped there.
Of course the email contained a link to a Web site to review my order. I clicked on it and the site was down.
That was a good thing.
I called the company, stayed on hold for a good five minutes and finally spoke with a rep.
I started to give her the order number when she quoted it to me.
Apparently someone created a real good spam email.
I don’t know why Lucky Brand was the target of choice.
I asked the rep if the mailroom guys were answering the phones to deal with the onslaught and she said yes.
It’s going to be a long weekend for Lucky Brand.
These external forces impact business our businesses in ways we never imagined.
Yesterday I heard a report on NPR about business identity theft. People clone your business, down to the logo and go out and represent themselves as you. You can listen to the report here.
Also in the news, the U.S. Government says computer security is quickly out pacing terrorism as its number one concern.
That should concern us all.
This post isn’t to incite a riot or breed fear but another call for businesses to plan ahead.
Have a crisis plan in place.
Lucky Brand should have addressed this crisis on their Web site, but there was no mention of it. A letter from the CEO on Yahoo could have saved the company a few calls. There was nothing on Twitter; nothing on Facebook.
Doing business online is a wonderful convenience and continued security threat.
Do make a crisis plan.
Do backup important documents.
And finally, do be safe online.
Have a great weekend everybody.