22 June,2020 06:29 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
This picture has been used for representation purpose
The government has warned against a large-scale cyber attack against individuals and businesses, where attackers may use COVID-19 as bait to steal personal and financial information.
The phishing campaign began yesterday with cybercriminals using IDs such as ncov2019@gov.in. The attackers are expected to send malicious emails while posing as local authorities that are in charge of dispensing government-funded COVID-19 support initiatives.
This editorial had stated when we were just a few days into the lockdown in India, that cybercriminals were using the World Health Organization (WHO) to con people into parting with funds as the COVID-19 wave hit the world. In fact, the apex health body had itself posted warnings about fake websites, email accounts and criminals impersonating WHO officials to deceive their targets, get hold of financial information and dupe them. This new warning is India-centric.
The frauds can be clubbed under the umbrella of Nigerian scams. These are cyber frauds where individuals are fooled into divulging financial details and huge sums of money are taken away from their bank accounts.
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The targets are the global Internet-connected audience. These scams make use of different world events such as the 9/11 terror attacks, problems in Africa, the conflict Colombia, etc. The criminals pose as distressed individuals caught up in the vortex of these happenings and try to dupe unsuspecting netizens by getting their financial information.
The pandemic is another such event and the strategy is to keep up with the details of the COVID-19 fight and change tactics by using the latest information to dupe people. As criminals cast their phishing (pun intended) nets, trawling for targets, stay alert and a step ahead of them.
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