Warning after fraudsters impersonate police officers.
Fraudsters are impersonating Police officers and targeting the elderly/vulnerable.
Millions of people are being hit by coronavirus-themed scam messages each day, Google has said.
The company is being forced to block 18 million of the messages per day, as cyber criminals attempt to use the outbreak to lure people into fraud and other attacks.
The messages may come from people posing as authorities looking to spread useful advice, for instance. Or they look to take advantage of people working and studying from home by appearing as if they are from a person's office.
In fact, however, they are from malicious internet users who are attempting to defraud people by exploiting the panic around the disease.
Google gave a variety of examples of such attacks, and warned people that they should not respond to any such communications. If Google spots such a scam message, it will show a large red warning saying the same thing at the top of the message.
Many of the messages claim to be from the World health Organisation, using that identity to ask for donations or to distribute malicious computer files. The messages may start with a genuine-looking message of concern about the pandemic, but go on to ask for donations to be sent in bitcoin to a specific address, for instance.
Others pose as office payroll departments and ask for details that claim to be helping the recipient get paid, but in fact use that information to steal money from the person getting the message.
Top Tips:
1. If the offer seems to good to be true then it probably is
2. Spelling mistakes throughout the email or in the subject line
3. There is a sense of urgency to respond to the email's request
4. Links do not got to the place you would expect them to
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-coronavirus-covid-19-scam-email-malware-fraud-phishing-world-health-organisation-a9470856.html
