The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has warned the public to be aware of scams and fraudulent emails relating to the coronavirus outbreak. Similar scams have reportedly already tricked the UK public out of £800,000, according to the police.
A number of the fraudulent scams targeted those desperate to purchase face masks, while others have included the sending of emails from fake ‘Centers for Disease Control’ accounts, claiming to be able to provide the victim with a list of infected people with their local area. The links targets are required to click on then take them to malicious websites.
A total of 21 cases of fraud were recorded by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau over the last month.
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The NFIB has advised consumers not to click on suspicious links or attachments, and not to respond to unsolicited messages asking for financial or personal details.
This advice would naturally extend to employees, so IT and security teams may need to communicate similar messages internally. There is more employer advice for coronavirus, here.
If you are concerned that you may have been a victim of fraud, you can report it to Action Fraud at any time of the day or night by using Action Fraud’s online reporting tool.
