Covid-19 Relief Scam
- Francesco Cipollone
- Mar 30, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 26, 2020
With the new wave of relief released by UK and USA government comes a new wave of spam and scam messages.
Few of my contact warned me of receiving text messages
credit Andrew Hendry
Despite the fact that in the current statephone calls of fear and lockdown this might seem legit it is a spam
The suggestion remains the same: do not click on those link and be extra paranoid during this period.
This new wave of scams comes together with the previous wave. i've covered the full list of malicious websites here (keep updating) and given recommendationsI've and suggestion on how to protect your working from home environment here
The scam comes with a new wave of phonecalls targeted to elderly and scared citizen.
This is an example of those
Elderly: Fake help during crisis
In what Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon called a “disgusting” scam, elderly residents are getting calls from strangers offering an array of services.
The elderly residents must give up personally identifying information or money to get these services, which then leaves them open to further scams later on.
There are specifics hotline number set up by each state.
Emergency providers and hospital workers are also invited to use the hotline to fulfil needs in their households.
For the full story:
Some recommendations
As the Coronavirus takes a growing toll on people’s pocketbooks, there are reports that the government will soon be sending money by check or direct deposit to each of USA citizens. The details are still undefined at this point in time so please follow the news and only go on the official government website. Do not trust direct message from anyone
This applies to the UK government as well. The government relief is still worked out so only go to legitimate HMRC or .gov websites.
In order to spot a malicious message keep those in consideration, no matter what the message might look like.
The government will not ask you to pay anything upfront to get this money. No fees. No charges. No nothing.
The government will not call to ask for your NIN (UK), Social Security number (USA), bank account, or credit card number. Anyone who does is a scammer.
These reports of checks aren’t yet a reality. Anyone who tells you they can get you the money now is a scammer.
Final notes
if you suspect a scam report it to FTC complaints (USA) or https://www.phishtank.com/ (international)
To verify the validity of the websites
if you want to verify the validity of a website please follow those simple 3 steps:
1. In your web browser click the small lock on the top left corner and than check that the connection is secure and click then on the small arrow to verify that the certificate is legitimate.
2. Click on more information to verify who the certificate is registered to and make sure the connection security is for a gov.uk website
3. when verifying the certificate pay attention to organization the website is registered to and the common name. The common name needs to be a .gov.uk website or is possibly a scam.
As NSC42 we are committed to protect companies and individuals from scam.
Want to get some additional advices on Cybersecurity during this period?
Want to know how to secure your environment or what cloud providers to use to scale security perimeter?
get in touch with us: book a free 30 minutes with me or send us an e-mail to communications@nsc42.co.uk
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