My friend and fellow veteran tech journalist Wayne Rash has a well-researched post on Forbes where he reports that “Cyber criminals are taking advantage of the worldwide level of concern surrounding the COVID-19 coronavirus to launch an insidious new round of attacks that are much more effective than previous cyber-attacks.”
The situation has gotten so bad that the FBI has a webpage dedicated to Covid-19 scams, including a press release warning of videoconferencing scams now that so many people are using Zoom and other video platforms.
On another FBI page, the agency warns:
- Scammers are targeting websites and mobile apps designed to track the spread of COVID-19 and using them to implant malware to steal financial and personal data.
- Thieves are even posing as national and global health authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, to conduct phishing campaigns. They send e-mails designed to trick recipients eager for reliable health information into downloading malicious code.
- Criminals are using COVID-19 as a lure to deploy ransomware, malicious software designed to lock a computer system until a ransom is paid.
The FBI also warned that “the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act will provide even more criminal opportunities. Fraudsters around the world are already developing methods to steal the critical financial support intended for communities, companies, and individuals.”
According to Rash, other scams include “emails offering vaccines or treatments for COVID-19, neither of which currently exist. They also include sales of N95 masks, which do exist, but which you aren’t going to get through those emails. The FBI reported charging one physician who was selling a “miracle cure” for the coronavirus.”