As if the world wasn't experiencing enough stress already, scammers are now trying to take advantage of the Coronavirus situation for their own personal gain. Gary and Shannon are here with special agent Michael Herrington to tell you NOT to let them make you a victim.
Here are some straight forward suggestions from the FBI to keep in mind so that you can protect your finances, your technology, and yourself.
- Be on the look out for fake Center for Disease Control emails
- Phishing emails that claim to be affiliated with charitable contributions, general financial relief, airline carrier refunds, fake cures/vaccines, and fake testing kits.
- Ignore messages with counterfeit treatment plans/equipment claiming to "treat" the Coronavirus
- Do not open attachments or click links within emails from senders you don't recognize.
- Do not provide your username, password, date of birth, social security number, financial data, or other personal information in response to an email or robocall.
- Always verify the web address of legitimate websites and manually type them into your browser.
- Check for misspellings or wrong domains within a link (for example, an address that should end in a ".gov" ends in .com" instead).
Through these methods, criminals are attempting to trick you, seize vital information, and lock down your computer/other devices until payment is given to them all because they convinced you to click a link and fall into their trap of lies.
Make sure you are doing your research from trusted sources, such as the Center for Disease Control, World Health Organization, or https://www.coronavirus.gov/. These websites are all managed by professionals who are frequently outlining protocols and updating information in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Don't fall victim to these hackers, protect yourself and stop criminal activity! Listen in for more from Special Agent Herrington on @GaryandShannon.