Criminals seek to exploit coronavirus crisis
Residents warned to be on their guard as different scams are identified
A NATIONAL Police chief has revealed that cybercrime experts have detected 12,000 new websites which were set up to make use of the coronavirus crisis to commit fraud.
Force director José Ángel González noted that the sites had been registered in a very short time period and ‘with all probability’ to con people into buying false products which claim to be miracle cures for the disease.
Sr González noted that his officers are carrying out intensive cyber patrols to take down the sites and other frauds related to the coronavirus.
Criminals are also trying to get hold of people’s personal and bank details by sending out emails and text messages purporting to be from the tax authority or the employment service.
These are targeted at workers who have been temporarily laid off during the state of emergency.
Sr González told people not to open any suspicious links or attachments to emails.
Europol have also warned that criminals ‘have been quick to seize opportunities to exploit the crisis by adapting their modi operandi or engaging in new criminal activities’.
A force spokesman noted: “Criminals have used the Covid-19 crisis to carry out social engineering attacks themed around the pandemic to distribute various malware packages.
“Cybercriminals are also likely to seek to exploit an increasing number of attack vectors as a greater number of employers institute telework and allow connections to their organisations’ systems.”
Fraudsters have also been quick to adapt well-known fraud schemes to capitalise on people’s anxieties and fears, added the spokesman.
“These include various types of adapted versions of telephone fraud schemes, supply scams and decontamination scams,” he said.
“A large number of new or adapted fraud schemes can be expected to emerge over the coming weeks as fraudsters attempt to capitalise further on the anxieties of people across Europe.”
At the same time, the sale of counterfeit healthcare and sanitary products as well as personal protective equipment and counterfeit pharmaceutical products ‘has increased manifold since the outbreak of the crisis’.
“There is a risk that counterfeiters will use shortages in the supply of some goods to increasingly provide counterfeit alternatives both on and offline,” noted the spokesman.
He added that a number of EU governments have reported a similar modus operandi for theft.
“The perpetrators gain access to private homes by impersonating medical staff providing information material or hygiene products or conducting a ‘corona test’,” he said.