Coronavirus and COVID-19 are, if not on everyone’s search bar, on everyone’s mind. The world is still struggling and reeling under the weight of this pandemic. With everyone worried about the spread and most of us confined to our own homes, people who regularly seek to scam others are taking advantage of the fear and supposedly easy prey. New scams have developed promising cures, vaccines, or up to date information all for the “small” price of all of your personal information.
Protect yourself from robocalls
Most of us have caller-ID, whether on a landline or cellphone. You’ll need to use that to avoid robocalls. If a number calls you and you neither recognize it nor does it leave a message it’s a good idea just to leave it alone. If you do pick up and the caller appears to be a recording, go ahead and hang up.
You can’t just stop robocalls from happening, even if you report them, but there are ways to avoid being scammed by them:
How to weed out spoofed emails
According to Vox, various users have reported fake email messages that appear to be from reputable organizations such as the WHO (World Health Organization) asking for donations or trying to get you to download an attachment. One way to avoid falling for scam emails is to check the sender domain against domains you know are legitimate, but this way doesn’t work if the sender has spoofed the domain. Emails like these look fully legitimate so it’s important to know certain facts before you’re taken advantage of.
Avoid falling for phishing calls and emails
Phishing calls and emails are pretty commonly sent from scammers but now they’re even more insidious. As worried as people are about their future with the pandemic spreading and our lives changing, scammers are not wasting a moment and are using that worry against us.
These calls and emails pose as a service, company, or person you may or may not be familiar with. Often they pose as your bank and demand your account details for “security”. There are a few ways you can avoid being taken advantage of by this social engineering scam.
Smishing scams (text message scams)
Smishing acts like phishing but it uses text messaging instead of calls and emails. The text messages will contain links and appear to be from legitimate agencies.
Scam apps
Not only can scammers call and text you, they’re also able to produce malicious apps that pose as legitimate applications. There’s more than one app right now for both computers and Android devices that claims to offer you up to date statistics and news on coronavirus. What these apps actually do is download malware.
One specific Android app has even had a name for ransomware developed. CovidLock. When you download it the previously unseen malware locks your phone by changing the password.
Keeping yourself safe
In our ever connected world threats seem to be lurking around every corner. From phishing, to spamming, to scamming, there’s a lot of scary things out there. But for every scary thing there’s a way to protect yourself. You can virtually wash your hands, use sanitizer, and wear a mask by staying up to date on scams and using legitimate sites to get your information.
This content was originally published here.