The coronavirus has become a worldwide health and safety concern, as the virus creeps into more and more communities and infects more people. As the virus spreads, there’s another issue appearing….phishing attacks. Sadly, the bad guys are preying on this international issue and taking advantage of individuals who actually might be at risk. Scammers are using the coronavirus epidemic to steal your information and infect you with a different kind of virus. Here’s how to protect yourself.

What does the coronavirus email hoax look like?

Since any message headlined “coronavirus” is likely to be an attention grabber, hackers have used this to their advantage. It’s definitely not the first time we’ve seen hackers use emergencies to propagate scams.

One campaign has surfaced in Italy. It is a malware-laced message from the “World Health Organization”.

The text of the email is something along the lines of:

“Due to the number of cases of coronavirus infection documented in your area, the World Health Organization has prepared a document that includes all the necessary precautions against coronavirus infection. We strongly recommend you read the document attached.”

It then requests users to “enable editing” and “enable content” and then installs a Trojan downloader, which exposes your computer to software that can steal your personal information.

Remember:

The World Health Organization will never:

• Ask you to login to view safety information
• Email attachments you didn’t ask for
• Ask you to visit a link outside of www.who.int
• Charge you money to apply for a job, register for a conference, or reserve a hotel
• Conduct lotteries or offer prizes, grants, certificates or funding through email
• Ask you to donate directly to emergency response plans or funding appeals.

It’s best to assume any widely emailed advisories are hacks unless you can validate the source. For more information on phishing and how you can protect yourself- check out our blogs:

QuickBooks Phishing Scam Targets Small Businesses

Capital One Data Breach: What to do if Your Data Has Been Stolen

Everything You Need to Know about the Equifax Data Breach

We can help protect your personal information. Reach out to us.