Washington—Internet users have seen a surge in COVID-related cyberattacks and fraud schemes which could add to the misery of the pandemic, even as some hackers have called for dialing back their criminal efforts.
A deluge of attacks has included phishing emails purported to be from health agencies, counterfeit product offers and bogus charity donation requests, according to security analysts.
Over the past month, at least 100,000 new web domain names were registered containing terms like covid, corona, and virus, many of which are considered “malicious,” according to a report prepared for the global internet registry agency ICANN.
“The pandemic has led to an explosion of cybercrime, preying upon a population desperate for safety and reassurance,” said the report released this week by Interisle Consulting Group.
The number of “spoofed” websites used for phishing to steal people’s private credentials rose by 350 percent since January to more than 500,000, according to Atlas VPN, which provides secure connection services.
Stimulus fraud coming?
These schemes could lead to unprecedented amounts of theft, identity hijacking and ransomware to extract money from vulnerable organizations, some analysts fear.
In just the past few weeks, US consumers have lost nearly $5 million to coronavirus-themed scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The potential for fraud could rise further, notably as a result of the $2 trillion economic relief package approved by Congress this month, according to an FTC warning to watch for stimulus-related fraud schemes.
Because of the global nature of the pandemic, hackers are taking advantage of all the attention being paid to the health crisis to lure people into opening malicious emails and links.
The security firm Proofpoint said this week it is seeing a wave of email scams themed around stimulus payments, Australian government “coronavirus tax relief” or even a fictitious “relief offer” from the World Health Organization and the International Monetary Fund.
“More than 80 percent of all the attacks Proofpoint now intercepts have something to do with the pandemic, a level that is unprecedented,” the company said.
“These attacks appear to be working, and now they are leveraging news of the stimulus package to ensnare more victims.”
