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Fake charities made to look like real charities that deal with the COVID-19 pandemicĥ cybersecurity tips for working from home.

Fake COVID testing, vaccine and treatment scams.

Scammers impersonating government officials.According to the U.S government, the IRS and Equifax, common COVID-19-related scams in 2021 include: Remember to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or World Health Organization for safe, accurate information about coronavirus trends and statistics. They look legitimate so it’s easy to click, but a click provides hackers the means to start phishing email campaigns and implant malware, all in an attempt to get personal and private information.įor example, a link that seems like it should lead you to a map of “COVID-19 cases near me” could infect your phone or computer with spyware or ransomware. These sites are often disguised as government agencies and humanitarian organizations and promise personal protective equipment, relief payments and more. Department of Justice shut down hundreds of bogus websites in the first year of the pandemic, but many more are still active. Texts and robocalls concerning vaccines, COVID-19 cures and antibody tests are prevalent.

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Register for the free FTC Consumer Alerts blog to keep up with recent tips, advice and scams.Īccording to the FTC, fraudsters are still at work creating scams perpetuating virus-related fear. Financial information and medical information are especially susceptible right now. The FTC continues to advise consumers to be wary of cybercriminals exploiting coronavirus fears to steal personally identifiable information (PII). Experts believe one important contributing factor for this kind of attack is the number of employees working from home. experienced a 311% increase in victims, with a total payout of $350 million. This situation creates an easier and more lucrative path for attackers to launch ransomware. “You are working with your own devices, away from the safe perimeter of corporate networks.”

“When you are working from home, you are not behind the castle walls anymore,” said John Hammond, a cybersecurity researcher at the security firm Huntress.

More warnings also come from the business sector now that working from home is more prevalent. Government documents or benefits fraud was most prevalent in identity theft cases - more than 406,000 people reported that someone submitted a fraudulent government document under their name.Īs the COVID-19 pandemic continues in 2021, the FTC continues to send out warnings of scams targeting Americans working and studying from home. According to the Federal Trade Commission's “ Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book,” the most common categories for complaints last year were identity theft, imposter scams (a subset of fraud), online shopping and negative reviews.