Several US Federal Agencies including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have jointly issued warning letters to seven sellers of unapproved and misbranded products, claiming they can treat or prevent the Coronavirus. Many other international intelligence agencies and governments including Interpole and United Nations have issued warning of financial fraud linked to COVID-19.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warns individuals to remain vigilant for scams related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cyber actors may send emails with malicious attachments or links to fraudulent websites to trick victims into revealing sensitive information or donating to fraudulent charities or causes. Exercise caution in handling any email with a COVID-19-related subject line, attachment, or hyperlink, and be wary of social media pleas, texts, or calls related to COVID-19.
Brown University provided some of the most common indicators that the phone call or email you received is probably a scam or attack.
- Any messages that communicates a tremendous sense of urgency. The bad guys are trying to rush you into making a mistake.
- Any message that pressures you into bypassing or ignoring our security policies and procedures.
- Any message that promotes miracle cures, such as vaccines or medicine that will protect you. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Be very suspicious of any phone call or message that pretends to be an official or government organization urging you to take immediate action.
US Federal Agency CISA encourages individuals to remain vigilant and take the following US precautions.
- Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails and be wary of email attachments. See Using Caution with Email Attachments and Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Scams for more information.
- Use trusted sources — such as legitimate, government websites — for up-to-date, fact-based information about COVID-19.
- Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information.
- Verify a charity’s authenticity before making donations. Review the Federal Trade Commission’s page on Charity Scams for more information.
- Review CISA Insights on Risk Management for COVID-19 for more information.
FDA Alerts Consumers About Unauthorized Fraudulent COVID-19 Test Kits. Here are more guidelines for your safety to avoid coronavirus scams that you can check out —
- Coronavirus scams, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Coronavirus scams Part 2, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- COVID-19 (coronavirus) scams, Scamwatch, Australian Government Agency
- INTERPOL warning, International Criminal Police Organisation
- Criminals pretending to be WHO, World Health Organization
Russian media have deployed a “significant disinformation campaign” against the West to worsen the impact of the coronavirus, generate panic and sow distrust. Watch out for the for potentially dangerous and malicious sites as reported by Forbes —
- Potentially dangerous sites — coronavirusstatus[.]space; coronavirus-map[.]com; blogcoronacl.canalcero[.]digital; coronavirus[.]zone; coronavirus-realtime[.]com; coronavirus[.]app; bgvfr.coronavirusaware[.]xyz; coronavirusaware[.]xyz
- Malicious sites — corona-virus[.]healthcare; survivecoronavirus[.]org; vaccine-coronavirus[.]com; coronavirus[.]cc; bestcoronavirusprotect[.]tk; coronavirusupdate[.]tk
