Times like these surely bring out the best in people, but for some it can also bring out the worst. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic and the FBI has warned about significant spikes in COVID19 related scams.
One of the most common scams appeals to one’s sense of fear, promising a vaccine that will protect you from COVID-19. Do not fall for this scam. Be very vigilant of anyone calling or emailing you about COVID-19 relating inquiries. Cybercriminals may use a variety of approaches, such as claiming to represent the health department and offering vaccination or other testing against COVID-19. Always be alert and suspicious and take extra steps to protect yourself from scammers.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says "There currently are no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges or other prescription or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -- online or in stores.” Any online, phone calls, or door to door offers for COVID-19 vaccines should be ignored, according to the FTC. The FTC adds "Individuals should be suspicious of anyone who approaches or initiates contact regarding coronavirus; anyone not known, or with whom conversation was not initiated, who offers advice on prevention, protection or recovery -- especially if they ask for money.”
Further, a slew of coronavirus-based domain names have been registered that could be used to infect users with malware—addresses like coronavirus-map[.]com, coronavirus[.]app and vaccine-coronavirus[.]com.
Additionally, users should be mindful of phishing emails that disguise themselves as coming from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, with the latter noting that WHO emails are addressed ".int" and that "WHO does not send email from addresses ending in ‘@who[.]com’ ,‘@who[.]org’ or ‘@who-safety[.]org’."
To report a scam or to find out more information about current scams you can go to the Federal Trade Commission website: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/coronavirus-scams-what-ftc-doing.
Times like these surely bring out the best in people, but for some it can also bring out the worst. unfortunately, cybercriminals are exploiting the coronavirus pandemic and the FBI has warned about significant spikes in COVID19 related scams.
One of the most common scams appeals to one’s sense of fear, promising a vaccine that will protect you from COVID-19. Do not fall for this scam. Be very vigilant of anyone calling or emailing you about COVID-19 relating inquiries. Cybercriminals may use a variety of approaches, such as claiming to represent the health department and offering vaccination or other testing against COVID-19. Always be alert and suspicious and take extra steps to verify the source before releasing any personal or financial information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says "There currently are no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges or other prescription or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) -- online or in stores.” Any online, calls, or door to door, offers for COVID-19 vaccines should be ignored, according to the FTC. They add "Individuals should be suspicious of anyone who approaches or initiates contact regarding coronavirus; anyone not known, or with whom conversation was not initiated, who offers advice on prevention, protection or recovery -- especially if they ask for money.”
Further, a slew of coronavirus-based domain names have been registered that could be used to infect users with malware—addresses like coronavirus-map[.]com, coronavirus[.]app and vaccine-coronavirus[.]com.
Additionally, users should be mindful of phishing emails that disguise themselves as coming from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, with the latter noting that WHO emails are addressed ".int" and that "WHO does not send email from addresses ending in ‘@who[.]com’ ,‘@who[.]org’ or ‘@who-safety[.]org’."
To report fraud or learn more visit the FTC here https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/coronavirus-scams-what-ftc-doing.
The The United States Department of Justice has also a et up a new website with information about covid19 related fraud and how to report it: justice.gov/coronavirus.
