BEWARE: COVID-19 Related Cyber Scams are Circulating

The “bad guys” or cyber criminals love when there is any sort of incident, crisis or occasion when folks have escalated emotions or stress, and this is certainly one of those times. With the COVID-19 commanding an unprecedented amount of coverage around the world, these individuals or teams of people are preying on our fears and emotions. These scammers have been sending emails with malicious attachments or links to fraudulent websites attempting to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information or donating to fraudulent charities or causes.

We are always alert about coaching our customers to avoid scammers who attempt to take advantage of events like this to perpetuate fraudulent activity. Below are some specific scams of which we’ve been made aware, and we encourage you to remain vigilant at this time to protect yourself.

• Unsolicited emails claiming to be from organizations such as Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO) or others containing attachments or links. These may attempt to install malicious malware on your device or trick you into providing personal or financial information.
• A fraudulent version of a map published by Johns Hopkins University that shares latest stats about COVID-19 is being used on malicious, illegitimate websites or emails to spread malware that attempts to steal users’ passwords. A link to the legitimate version of this map can be found at the link above and was shared in our communication last week.

Please use caution 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. Remember to ALWAYS confirm the primary source of any of these communications and never take source claims at face value.