News about the number of people afflicted by COVID-19 has spawned an epidemic of campaigns using the outbreak as a lure to steal sensitive and personal information.
Now that the World Health Organization has characterized COVID-19 as a global pandemic, scam artists are having a field day.
Wondering where the latest cases are? Don’t click on the links in this map, which is weaponized to deliver information-stealing malware.
Pierluigi Paganini explains what happens behind the scenes of this legitimate-looking map: https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/99446/cyber-crime/coronavirus-map-delivers-malware.html
More likely you’ll receive an email like this one from the US Centers for Disease Control with helpful information about COVID-19.
Be skeptical
Would the CDC really have your email address?
Would they really be emailing people across the country with information or instructions?
If they did, would they personalize it by addressing the email to “Dear” and not bothering to add your name?
Not likely.
It’s more likely that they would to push the message out through traditional media, with details of where to look for more information.
What to do
Don’t accept information pushed out to you.
If you do receive an email that asks you to click a link to get information about how to protect yourself don’t click the link (or anything else in the email) — even if the link, logo, signature, and other elements of the email look legit. Even if the email is from a family member or friend.
Do seek out information from reliable sources — by typing in (or copy/paste) the web address. Again, don’t click the link.
• Centre for Disease Control and Prevention: COVID-19 Resources — https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control — https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china
• Irish Republic — https://www.failteireland.ie/Utility/Covid-19.aspx
• Public Health Agency of Canada — https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health.html
• State & Territorial Health Departments in all 50 states, 8 US territories and freely associated states, and the District of Columbia — https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/healthdepartments.htm
• UK Department of Health and Social Care— https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
• US Centers for Disease Control — https://www.cdc.gov/
• World Health Organization: COVID-19 Updates— https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
What else you can do
Take care of yourself and your family first. Everything else is less important.
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