SCAMMED WHILE SELF-ISOLATING

Criminals are using the coronavirus outbreak to try to scam people

THE public is being warned to watch out for coronavirus-related scams, with authorities having already tackled more than 2,000 in the first month of lockdown.

The Government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has launched a ‘Cyber Aware’ campaign to help people deal with the threat, as it revealed it has already taken down 2,058 online scams related to the coronavirus.

These included 471 fake online shops selling fraudulent virus-related items and 832 advance-fee frauds, where a large sum of money is promised in return for a set-up payment.

As well as this, the NCSC removed 555 websites created to deliver malware like computer viruses, and 200 phishing sites that try to trick people into giving out information such as passwords or credit card details.

Minister for Security, James Brokenshire said: “Criminals are seeking to exploit our greater use of emails, video conferencing and other technologies for their advantage.

“It’s despicable that they are using the coronavirus outbreak as cover to try to scam and steal from people in their homes. We all have a part to play in seeing they don’t succeed.”

In order to protect people from online harm, the NCSC has published advice on protecting passwords, accounts and devices, including guidance for using video conferencing services securely, and launched a reporting service for suspicious emails.

Dubious emails can be sent to report@phishing.gov.uk, and the NCSC’S system will automatically check for phishing scams and immediately remove criminal sites.

NCSC Chief Executive Officer Ciaran Martin said: “Technology is helping us cope with the coronavirus crisis and will play a role helping us out of it - but that means cyber security is more important than ever.

“With greater use of technology, there are different ways attackers can harm all of us. But everyone can help to stop them by following the guidance campaign we have launched today. But even with the best security in place, some attacks will still get through.”

Across the UK, people lost £824.8 million to fraud including card, banking and online scams, in 2019, according to figures from UK Finance.

The figures include £111.8 million lost to internet banking fraud - where a criminal gains access to someone’s bank account, often through phishing.

While the amount stolen has dropped from £123.0 million in 2018, the number of cases jumped by a quarter from 20,904 to 25,849.

The number of advanced-fee scams reported jumped by a third in a year, from 8,133 to 10,711, while the amount lost rose from £14.0 million to £17.2 million.

Frauds involving computer viruses and malware were also on the rise, with 5,536 reported to Action Fraud in 2019, up from 5,215 in 2018.

However, this is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg as not everyone reports these offences to Action Fraud.

Separate figures from the Crime Survey for England and Wales show 317,000 people were victims of computer viruses last year, in 376,000 incidents.