December 2020 – MTA Communications

Did you get an email asking you to update your MTA payment method? It wasn’t from us. Some customers have reported a fake email attempting to appear to be from “MTA Customer Service.” This phishing scam prompts individuals to update their payment information on a landing page that appears to be myMTA, but is not hosted or affiliated with MTA in any way.

Keep an eye out for suspicious-looking texts or emails requesting updated account info, updated payment details or posing as MTA customer service. If any come your way, please delete them and do not follow any links. You can also report them to the FTC here. Below is some information on what you should do if you receive an email like this and tips to help keep your online information safe.

Tips for recognizing spam or malicious emails.

Company logos appear distorted.
Your name isn’t used. Instead generic verbiage like “attention customer” or “dear sir” is used as the email greeting.
The origination email is not the company address (i.e. official MTA communications will only include addresses ending in @mtaonline.net; @mtasolutions.com or @mta-telco.com).
Grammar is very poor and words are often spelled incorrectly.
The requests for information come suddenly without reason.
MTA will never ask for personal information via text or email.
If there is a link in the email – hover over it to see what the actual landing page is.
If the landing page is not my.mtasolutions.com – it is not our customer portal.

What should I do if I clicked a link or provided personal information?

Reset your myMTA password to a new one that is strong and unique to that account.
Change any other account password that used similar credentials (email and password).
Contact your bank if you shared any payment information as it might have been compromised.

Safety tips to help keep your online information safe.

Never open an attachment or click any links in a suspicious looking email – delete it.

When in doubt if an email or request is legitimate, contact our support team directly at 745-6821. They are available 24/7/365.

The undeniable benefits that come from connecting more and more of our lives unfortunately can put our home networks, our devices, and even our identities at risk – this is why we created MTA Shield. MTA Shield provides unique privacy features to keep members’ data private both at home and on the go, a variety of user management tools, as well as identity protection features. When combined with MTA’s totalWiFi package, members will have greater peace of mind than ever before when it comes to their data security and privacy. Learn more here.

Recently, MTA Gaming kicked off its annual gaming tournament a little different than usual. But even virtually, this year’s tournament took Alaska by storm!

The event ran for a total of three days, making it MTA’s first-ever multi-day event, and had 171 attendees log on to battle it out over Valorant, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Tekken 7. Our largest gaming bracket was Valorant presented by Ciena, and this ended up being the largest Valorant tournament in all of Alaska to date.

Despite the physical separation this year, we know that students have been searching for ways to connect with their community and engage in something that they’re passionate about, and this year’s tournament allowed them to do just that. This virtual event also provided students in the Alaskan community (and beyond) the unique opportunity to connect with professionals in the broader world of both technology and now professional sports.

That leads us to this year’s special guest – NBA superstar and longtime esports enthusiast Gordon Hayward. We were so grateful for Gordon’s commentary throughout the tournament, and that he was able to share his passion for esports with members of our community.

Giving Back Beyond the Screen

While this three-day extravaganza resulted in nearly 20 hours of total gameplay and 900 unique viewers, we also received an overwhelming amount of support from our nearly 40 sponsors. With nearly $30,000 raised for the MTA Foundation, and incredible prizes gifted to our participants, we’d say our community as a whole came out on top this year.

MTA Gaming operates on two very important principles; bringing Alaska together in a unique way while also giving back to our community members who are in need of it most, especially now. And while things were a little different this year due to the pandemic, new doors were opened and the stage has been set for future MTA Gaming tournaments, whether in-person or virtual.

After the success we saw this year, we hope to keep this virtual momentum going. There are so many connections to be made between technology and the world around us, and events like this help prove that. Technology enables unique connections between many different dimensions, whether that’s education, community initiatives or even NBA stars. Above all, these events allow us to give back to the community that made us who we are, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future of MTA Gaming.

For more details on MTA Gaming and future events, stay up to date at https://www.mtasolutions.com/esports/.