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(719) 355-2440Malicious People Have Always Preyed on Uncertainty and Fear – Now More Than Ever, It’s Time to Keep Your Guard Up. Here’s What’s Happening in the World of Coronavirus-Related Threats.
Nothing lends a bit of credibility to a scam like the mention of national headlines does. Cybercriminals are taking advantage of collective uncertainty and fear right now more than ever before, but that’s not surprising. Unfortunately, many of their scams are so convincing that they’re bound to catch quite a few people off guard. As organizations continue to deal with the global health crisis at hand – embracing remote work as a way to maintain social distancing, we’re tasked with yet another challenge: handling an influx of coronavirus-related threats.
Over the past couple of months, the FBI has received thousands of complaints regarding these coronavirus-related threats. An FBI alert was released:
“Scammers are leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic to steal your money, your personal information, or both. Don’t let them. Protect yourself and do your research before clicking on links purporting to provide information on the virus…” They also warned people to “lookout for phishing emails asking you to verify your personal information to receive an economic stimulus check from the government,”
Roughly 6,000 coronavirus or COVID-19 themed domains have been registered over the past couple of months. These domains are said to be 50% MORE likely to be malicious compared to other domains. Cybercriminals appear to be targeting individuals through:
The FBI has issued detailed alerts regarding scams related to a range of topics to look out for, including the following:
If you’re unsure, it’s always best to delete the email and move on. Although the FBI’s alerts help understand the threats out there, here’s a look at what to watch out for right now:
Your safest bet is to type in the URL of the legitimate website and get updates or information from there. If you receive an email about a purchase order, check with your leadership team to verify if they made a purchase and, if so, call the supplier directly to ask for an update.
Now that you have an idea of the context of these coronavirus-related phishing emails and phony domains, here are the top five signs it’s not safe to click, reply or download anything from an email or website:
Feeling uncertain about an email or website? Get in touch with our team, and we’ll check it out for you. Use the chatbox or call us at (719) 204-6516.