The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Is that Amazon email real or a scam?

- Howard tips

As t heworld’slargest online retailer, Amazon. com sends untold numbers of emails to consumers on a daily basis. Many of them have to do with shipping, receiving, promotions and the like. But some of these emails, despite appearance­s, arefakes.

Clark, Inc. General Manager Christa DiBiase recently received an email that appeared to come from Amazon asking her to confirm her personal details connected to her account. The only problem? The correspond­ence didn’t come from Amazon.

Don’t fall for this popular Amazon.com phishing email

Theemailma­ybepartofa complicate­d email “phishing” scam that uses fake emails, texts or copycat websites to lure people into sharing personal informat ionlikethe­ir passwords, account numbers and Social Security numbers.

Armed with an Amazon. com login ID and password, a scammer can easily rack up thousands of dollars in illicitpur chases or divert merchandis­e from one address to another.

Is t hat email from Amazon.com? Here’s how to tell

Amazon.com acknowledg­es that phishing is a problem. But here’s what you need to know:

“Amazon will never send you an unsolicite­d e-mail that asks you to provide sensitive personal informatio­n like your Social Security number, tax ID, bank account number, credit card informatio­n, ID questions like your mother’s maiden name or your password.”

Ifyouseean­em ail with an order confirmati­on for an item that you don’t think you purchased, log into your Amazon account and go to your Your Orders to see if it matches what you see in the email.

If you get a request to update your Amazon account, don’t do it via email. Instead, go to Your Account on Amazon.com and click “Manage Payment Options” in the “Payments” section.

“If you aren’t prompted to update your payment method on that screen, the message isn’t from Amazon,” Amazon says.

How to report a phishing email to Amazon

Amazon says if you come across a suspicious email, forward it to stop-spoofing@amazon.com.

Gennadi Nedvigin, the Atlanta Ballet’s artistic director for the past two years, was born in Russia and began his dancing career at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy at age 10. His first experience dancing in “The Nutcracker” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsk­y occurred only after he joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1997.

Nedvigin says that Russiahas a different relationsh­ip to “The Nutcracker” than the American holiday tradition. “In Russia, ‘The Nutcracker’ would be performed in June,” Nedvigin sa ys.“I t’s regarded as one of the classical full-length ballets, performed by companies as part of the repertoire.”

He danced the Cossack and Cavalier roles in his first “Nutcracker” production in San Francisco. “It was new to me, a ndIgrewint­oitasaholi­daytraditi­on,” he says.

After 20 years working in the United States, he’s comfortabl­e overseeing the Atlanta Ballet’s lavish, state-of-the-art new production of “The Nutcracker,” the company’s first version since previou s artisticdi­rect or John McFall debutedthe show in the mid-1990s. The show will begin Saturday at the Fox Theatre.

In some ways, the new rendition of the holiday ballet feels like a passing of the torch, but Nedvigin says after a couple of decades, any show needs sprucing up. “In a way, every company has a span of about 20 years of ‘The Nutcracker’ and then new version is produced,” he says during a brief break in r ehearsals. “Performing every year, the costumes and scenery get worn out and dirty, so it’s normal for them to have a span of 15-20 years.”

For this refreshed version of “The Nutcracker,” Nedvigin reunites with renowned Russian choreograp­her Yuri Possokhov. “Before we even started talking, Yuri had ideas about ‘The Nutcracker.’ We’re very happy that his vision is becoming reality.”

The production team includes Tony Award-winning video/projection designer Finn Ross, Tony-nominated set designer Tom Pye and lighting designer David Finn. The $3.7 million production promises to enhance the dance with projected imagery and other state-of-the-art technologi­cal effects.

con tinuedon

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D BY BALLETHNIC ?? Nena Gilreath, shown doing the Spanish dance in the second act of “Urban Nutcracker,” isa Ballethnic Dance Co. co-founder.
CONTRIBUTE­D BY BALLETHNIC Nena Gilreath, shown doing the Spanish dance in the second act of “Urban Nutcracker,” isa Ballethnic Dance Co. co-founder.
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