How-tos

Coronavirus Email Scams: Don’t Get Caught Out


Cybercriminals will use any and all tactics to make money, and the latest spate of scams involve a bunch of fake (but genuine-looking) emails designed to con you out of your logins and, possibly, your money.

Security firm Kaspersky detected malware in files purporting to be documents and videos with information on how to protect yourself from contracting the virus.

It’s a new play on the same old tricks: email attachments supposedly containing information on the latest areas with outbreaks of the virus, videos of tips on how to protect yourself and links to websites with – again – the latest, up to date information.

Of course, the files contain nothing of the sort: they instead deliver their payloads which range from Trojans to worms. And these nasties are capable of various things from interfering with the operation of your laptop or PC to destroying your data.

However, the hackers’ primary reason isn’t to inconvenience you, it’s to steal your information, or extort money from you.

The main targets are the US and Japan, but everyone should watch out for the emails.

One particular email apparently came from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, and includes a link to see the latest cases in your city.

coronavirus scam email

It takes you to what appears to be an Outlook webmail login page (which doesn’t even make sense) but it would be easy to enter your Microsoft login details if you’re not concentrating. It’s a fake site which will steal your username and password, of course, and provide you with none of the information promised.

Other emails will fool you into believing they are from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and have an attachment that is meant to include safety tips. Instead, it installs a keylogger on your system which will send all your keystrokes (potentially including your bank login details) to the scammers.

How to avoid Coronavirus scams

As ever, our advice is the same.

If you want to avoid being scammed, do not open email attachments without first checking that the email is genuine and that the file extension is appropriate for the type of file. A video or audio file with an .exe or .ink extension is fake, and will most probably infect your computer with malware.

Second, don’t click on links in emails unless you are sure the URL is safe. And if you do click on a link, then check in your web browser that the address is genuine and not a fake site.

For example, the CDC emails come from cdc-gov.org, but that is not the official cdc.gov domain name.

Finally, ensure you are running up to date antivirus software on your computers. Basic antivirus is good, but a full security suite that also includes some kind of ‘web advisor’ to warn you of fake or dangerous websites will offer that additional warning that you might be about to enter your login details on a non-genuine page or download a potentially malicious file.

These are the best antivirus packages to use.





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