Hackers are taking advantage of the chaotic situation as the demand for telehealth services have risen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Google is blocking more than 100 million phishing emails on a daily basis and on 17th of April, it disclosed that it had recorded and stopped 18 million such emails during the past week that were related to COVID-19. Further, the Federal Trade Commission published a report concerning Cyber Scams from 1st of January to 16th of April and called attention to waves of frauds that included robocalls, fake texts and products that lure the consumer by providing services towards protection against COVID-19.
Some spammers and scammers are deploying extortion techniques amidst the pandemic. A particular extortion scam called The Sextortion Scam is on the rise where a threat is received that the hacker has recorded the victim watching pornographic content through their webcam and has also obtained the slides of their screen in a side-by-side manner. The threat goes even further by stating that if the hacker does not receive the stated ransom, they will infect every member of the victim’s family with the virus.
There are malicious apps for Android and iOS that pretend to be Corona Safety applications and they are on the rise. The hackers have kept the companies on their toes amidst the pandemic. Some of the hackers are even pushing false cures of COVID-19. They try to sell the victim drugs that will cure the disease, however, no cure has yet been discovered in reality.
Several false portals that claim to raise relief funds for the COVID-19 pandemic are emerging rapidly. It is clear that Hackers are using the pandemic as a cover for them and while most of the individuals have turned towards the internet due to the lockdown, they must act awarely and be cautious about the potential hackers that are lurking for opportunities to commit frauds, identity-theft and much more to the netizens. While it is almost impossible for the Sun to set on the horizon of cyber crimes, it is only our willful awareness that can keep us safe.
