{"id":1834,"date":"2020-03-17T16:19:10","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T12:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techxmedia.com\/?p=1834"},"modified":"2025-04-18T02:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T22:26:46","slug":"beware-scams-exploiting-coronavirus-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/beware-scams-exploiting-coronavirus-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware scams exploiting coronavirus fears"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Tony Anscombe, Global\nSecurity Evangelist and Industry Ambassador at ESET<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nare currently experiencing an unprecedented global event. The outbreak of\nCoronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) \u2013 now officially a pandemic<\/a> \u2013 has caused\napprehension globally, ultimately resulting in lockdowns, travel bans, panic\nbuying, and financial market turmoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scammers,\ntoo, have taken notice. Emergencies offer golden opportunities for con artists\nto launch fraudulent campaigns that feed off, and cash in on, the climate of\nconcern. Against the backdrop of a disease that has so far caused more than 4,000 deaths<\/a> and continues to spread,\nscammers have wasted no time in playing on people\u2019s fears or evoking feelings\nof compassion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\ncybercriminals clearly think that all their Christmases have come at once: an\nanxious population, vulnerable people at the highest risk, excessive demand for\ngoods no longer in stock, and masses of disinformation sloshing around on\nsocial media \u2013 all this equates to a massive opportunity to prey on people and\nattempt to defraud them while they are at their most susceptible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nscams can take various forms, and the ESET research team has shared a few\nexamples of the despicable tactics seen in use recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malicious news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraudsters pretend to offer important information about the virus in an attempt to get potential victims to click on malicious links. Typically, such links can install malware, steal personal information, or attempt to capture login and password credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The\nWHO is aware that its brand is being used by scammers, so it provides advice on its website<\/a> on how it communicates,\nand provides details of what it will or will not do in official emails. One of\nthe most important points to note reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake\nsure the sender has an email address such as \u2018person@who.int\u2019. If there is\nanything other than \u2018who.int\u2019 after the \u2018@\u2019 symbol, this sender is not from\nWHO. WHO does not send email from addresses ending in \u2018@who.com\u2019, \u2018@who.org\u2019 or\n\u2018@who-safety.org\u2019 for example.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\norganization also advises to check the URL for any links in emails and that all\nweb content will start with https:\/\/www.who.int\/<\/a> and that no other domain\nis used. If there\u2019s any doubt, then directly type the address into your\nbrowser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider\nnavigating to the dedicated WHO site<\/a> or to the sites of your\nrespective national health care institutions, such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC) in the United\nStates or the National Health Service<\/a> in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nanother example, the phishing website below is attempting to impersonate the\nWall Street Journal (WSJ) and is supposedly reporting the latest COVID-19 news.\nWe have redacted some of the URL for obvious reasons, but notice that it starts\nwith \u2018worldstreet\u2019 and the wording on the webpage states \u2018world street\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, some visual consistency with WSJ branding is there in a clear attempt to subtly trick the visitor into thinking that this is the Wall Street Journal. The delivery of advertising on the site is generating revenue for the bad actors, even if no personal details are gleaned from the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Exploiting the charitable spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another common type of scam doing the rounds is a tug on the heart strings that attempts to get the recipient to help fund the vaccine for children in China. There is, at the time of writing, no vaccine available<\/a> and it is not expected to be ready for public use until next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The\ninteresting background to this is example is that the bad actor has repurposed\nan existing campaign infrastructure and process with COVID-19 content. In 2019\nwe published details of a sextortion scam campaign<\/a> attempting to scare\nvictims in an attempt to extort money from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People\nwho receive the coronavirus-themed emails are asked to send bitcoins to the\nattackers\u2019 wallets. Despite this technique being only effective for a fraction\nof the users, when done on a global scale it can be financially attractive for\nthe criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unmasked<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another type of fraud, scammers send spam emails in a bid to dupe the victims into thinking they can order face masks that will keep them safe from the novel coronavirus. What happens instead is that the victims will unwittingly reveal their sensitive personal and financial information to the fraudsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As\nyou would expect, Google Trends shows that search volumes for terms such as \u2018hand sanitizer<\/a>\u2019 and \u2018face masks\u2019 and are\nreaching unprecedented levels. With demand for these products outstripping\nsupply, con artists have been increasingly targeting people who are looking to\ntake protective measures. According to Sky News<\/a>, fraudulent face mask\nsellers swindled people in the UK out of \u00a3800,000 (US$1 million) in February\nalone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nare just a few of the examples of how cybercriminals are attempting to\ncapitalize on the current climate surrounding the virus outbreak. This is an\napt time for individuals and businesses to learn, or be reminded of, some of\nthe most common ways criminals capitalize on people\u2019s emotions (not only)\nduring major events and emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remaining\nvigilant, identifying and ignoring the product of cybercriminals and\ncyber-nuisances involved in scams or fake news is essential. Here are some of\nthe basics that will help you stay safe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n