10 Things I know about… COVID-19 scams

10. Pandemic panic

Criminals thrive during a crisis, knowing people under stress and distraction are more prone to readily click a text or email link without thought to its legitimacy. As such, COVID-19-related phishing attacks grew 600% in the first quarter.

9. FTC Warnings

The Federal Trade Commission just reported $12 million in coronavirus scams calling it the tip of the iceberg and warning of low-hanging fruit brought on by at-home workers and shadow IT operations i.e., when employees run amuck with their own apps, systems and devices.

8) Robocallers

Purporting to offer free COVID-19 test kits, face masks, sanitizer and even fake cures, as a way to collect your personal and health insurance information, asking for payment over the phone.

7) Fake IDs

Text message scams impersonating the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informs recipients they must take a mandatory online COVID-19 test.

6) Freed money

Scammers using federal stimulus checks as a ruse to make people verify their personal information or bank account details in order to release the funds.

5) Charity exploit

Phone calls and texts impersonating the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control falsely making donation requests or promising safety measures for protecting against coronavirus.

4) Leaky indeed

Consumers receiving robocalls from HVAC duct cleaners promising to protect your home, office, and family from the deadly coronavirus.

3) Job/loan scams

Beware of sudden COVID-19-themed work-from-home opportunities, alleged student loan forgiveness or repayment plans, U.S. Small Business Administration loans, online listing verification, and debt consolidation offers.

2) Connectivity scare

Internet routers used from home are being targeted by hijacking attacks redirecting users to fake COVID-19 resources; some Android users experience screen locking, forcing users to reset passwords.

1) Getting buy-in

Convince senior managers to take threats seriously: Conduct war games, asking the CEO to respond in real-time to worse-case scenarios proposed by cybersecurity experts.

This article was originally posted in Worcester Business Journal >