Fake Coronavirus Alerts - Phishing Alert
Recently phishers have been working to steal users' Office 365 Credentials by producing Fake Coronavirus Alerts. The scammers behind this have been attempting to impersonate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from email addresses such as "cdcgov.org" and the World Health Organization.
These criminals are going under disguises from employees of WHO to steal money or sensitive information from users. These phishing emails have contained documents with malicious code embedded as well as malicious attachments and links to fake login portals. Being able to identify the possible risks of these phishing attacks and what these attackers have been sending out could keep you from being a possible victim.
These are a few examples of where alerts attachments have been sending receivers.
Tips to keep yourself aware of possible Phishing attacks:
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Don’t be taken in by the sender’s name. This scam says it’s from “World Health Organization”, but the sender can put any name they like in the From: field
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Look out for spelling and grammatical errors. Not all crooks make mistakes, but many do. Take the extra time to review messages for telltale signs that they’re fraudulent – it’s bad enough to get scammed at all without realizing afterward that you could have spotted the fraud upfront.
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Check the URL before you type it in or click a link. If the website you’re being sent to doesn’t look right, stay clear. Do your own research and make your own choice about where to look.
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Never enter data that a website shouldn’t be asking for. There is no reason for a health awareness web page to ask for your email address, let alone your password. If in doubt, don’t give it out.
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If you realize you just revealed your password to imposters, change it as soon as you can. The crooks who run phishing sites typically try out stolen passwords immediately (this process can often be done automatically), so the sooner you react, the more likely you will beat them to it.
Below are examples of real and fake emails regarding the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control.
When following through with either of these links above, the web pages below are where the links would take you.
