Reminder: The US government isn't going to text you about COVID-19 payments

Posted:
in General Discussion
The US and UK governments have issued a new alert, warning users to avoid clicking any suspicious email or text message links related to government relief funds.




The alert, titled "COVID-19 Exploited by Malicious Cyber Actors" highlights the many ways the coronavirus pandemic is being exploited by bad actors. It was released as a joint alert from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

According to the announcement, government security agencies are seeing an influx of COVID-19 related scams, put out by advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and cybercriminals. Like many scams, the perpetrators rely on both fear and trust to trick their targets.

The most common of these scams are phishing scams. A malicious party pretends to be from a reputable organization -- such as the government or the victim's bank -- and sends them an email or text message. The message will often state that a victim's account needs to be verified or that they need to provide additional information through a provided link. The information can then be used to log into the account in question.

New malware is also being distributed, using coronavirus or COVID-19 themed lures. By installing malware onto a victims computer, a cybercriminal can monitor the user's activity and siphon login data from sensitive sites, such as credit card and bank websites. Malware often masquerades as attachments in emails or files shared on social media.

An example of an Italy-based malware scam, designed to install a keylogger onto a user's computer
An example of an Italy-based malware scam, designed to install a keylogger onto a user's computer


"NCSC has observed various email messages that deploy the "Agent Tesla" keylogger malware. The email appears to be sent from Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO," reads the alert. "This email campaign began on Thursday, March 19, 2020. Another similar campaign offers thermometers and face masks to fight the epidemic. The email purports to attach images of these medical products but instead contains a loader for Agent Tesla."

Lastly, the announcement reminds people to be safe when using virtual private networks (VPNs) and video conferencing software. There are known vulnerabilities affecting VPN products from Pulse Secure, Fortinet, and Palo Alto. There are known scams related to video conferencing software released by both Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

It is essential to realize that the government -- whether in the U.S. or U.K. -- is not going to send out any information via text or email that will result in getting a relief payment. While many tech-savvy folks already know this, it may be a good time to refresh less tech-savvy people on how to keep themselves safe from scams.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    Makes a change from the Netflix and Amazon phishing emails that seem to plague most of us these days.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 2 of 12
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,924member
    Financially hurting people with scam is worse than physical. The laws should be strict(upto death penalty) regarding punishing those involved into cyber scam targeted to make money directly or indirectly by hurting innocent naive people.. Hunt and kill them.

  • Reply 3 of 12
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I think it’s time to enact a wartime law that mandates summary execution for scammers who are caught and convicted. Conduct drone strikes on scammer call centers in India and Pakistan. Take ‘em out. I’m tired of getting calls from the IRS and Social Security warning me there’s a warrant out for my arrest if I don’t pay money right then and there. I actually took the time once to talk to one of these people. I asked where they were and then asked if they Muslim or Hindu. Then I asked them what their faith had to say about stealing from the elderly. One guy admitted there were no jobs where he lived and this was the only thing he could do to support his family. I’m sure he was immediately fired after the call.

    Of course Covid-19 scammers are out in force because of all the fear and panic being instilled in the population by the news media with their announcements of the latest death tolls while sinister music plays in the background. They promise Facts Not Fear but are doing the exact opposite. Now the ‘experts’ appear to be backing off their apocalyptic predictions but what does really mean? Were they wrong in the first place or has the social distancing having an effect? It will be interesting in the coming months when investigative journalists dig into the facts and fictions of this episode.
    edited April 2020
  • Reply 4 of 12
    davebarnesdavebarnes Posts: 375member
    Wait!
    What?
    Steve Munchkin is not going to Venmo my money to me?

    baconstangjt327girwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 12
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I look forward to getting my virus direct deposit soon.

    I don't really need it, so I have to figure out what kind of goodies I'm going to get with it. I don't need anything from Apple right now, so I'll have to come up with something else. I'm probably going to treat myself to something nice.

    As for these scams, of course lowlife criminals and scammers are going to be taking advantage of the current situation, it's what they do. I don't disagree with Lkrupp, serial scammers should be sentenced to death. I have no problems with that. One single scammer can cause a lot of problems and headaches for a great many people. Scammers should be eliminated, just like we try to eliminate certain diseases.

    I'm not worried about scams myself, as I can easily spot them from a mile away. Most scammers are very stupid people who aren't very intelligent and many can barely write in proper English. When you receive an email from a "major company" that's full of grammatical errors, that looks like it was written by a third world dunce, that would be a good tip off for most people who are paying attention. But I do sometimes get calls from relatives asking me about certain emails that they get, like an email from "Apple", asking them to reset their password. I tell them to not open the email, do not click on anything at all in the email, and just trash it immediately. I also love when I get emails from "Facebook", asking me to reset my password. I'm not even on Facebook. That's a slight give away.

    Many people on this site are probably tech savvy, but the average person, including many of our family members and certain friends are not and I suppose that some of them are susceptible to being scammed.

    The internet is no place for the uninformed and the naive.




    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 12
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,068member
    lkrupp said:
    Of course Covid-19 scammers are out in force because of all the fear and panic being instilled in the population by the news media with their announcements of the latest death tolls while sinister music plays in the background. They promise Facts Not Fear but are doing the exact opposite. Now the ‘experts’ appear to be backing off their apocalyptic predictions but what does really mean? Were they wrong in the first place or has the social distancing having an effect? It will be interesting in the coming months when investigative journalists dig into the facts and fictions of this episode.
    There's no "conspiracy" with the "experts" about their "predictions", so your "scare" quotes are unnecessary. No exert said it was an apocalyptic event, in fact they said the contrary:

    "Everybody needs to remember: This is not a zombie apocalypse. It's not a mass extinction event."

    https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/

    As for deaths, there's a global quarantine in place (97% of the US ordered), and even with that there has been a large spike of deaths from a highly contagious disease in a very short amount of time. 85,000 so far, a high mortality rate. But thankfully, distancing is working. As the CDC has explained, in the US they originally planned on 50% of the population to adhere to the stay-home order, but the actual number is surprisingly much higher. It's working.



    You can explore the data here:

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/


    edited April 2020 muthuk_vanalingamronnbaconstangmknelsonjdb8167
  • Reply 7 of 12
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,608member
    Here's an even sneakier scam actively exploited in the Tampa/St Pete area. You get an email supposedly from a local hospital advising you that a patient admitted for Covid-19 has named you as someone exposed to that patient and likely infected. You are told to report to that hospital for testing and to open and fill-out the attached form (zip file) in order to expedite the process and prepare the hospital for your arrival.

    ....and there ya go. 
    edited April 2020 seanismorrisKT123muthuk_vanalingamronn
  • Reply 8 of 12
    KT123KT123 Posts: 13member
    You can always leave it up to the Florida creative community to take it up to the next level and show the rest of us how it's done. Wonder how many grandma and grandpa have provided their SS and bank account info before rushing out the door to the local urgent care????
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 12
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,146member
    If a call or txt shows up without a name from my address book, it goes to VM or junk.  If they're junk, those VMs last about 0:03. 
    All I have to do is delete them.
    edited April 2020 watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 12
    wood1208 said:
    Financially hurting people with scam is worse than physical. The laws should be strict(upto death penalty) regarding punishing those involved into cyber scam targeted to make money directly or indirectly by hurting innocent naive people.. Hunt and kill them.

    Make a camp, where they can reside, without any technology, together, and create enough money to pay back they, and their organizatoin stole.  They can have their sentence reduced by 90% when they rat out their superiors.  After they rat out their superiors, all of them are chipped, so anyone can know they're a former scammer.

    Also, have the telephone systems read those chips so when I get a call from Coos Bay, Oregon from "Roger", the telephone systems can tell me that this is really not Roger.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 12
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,268member
    Same thing in Australia at federal and state level too.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 12
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    lkrupp said:
    Of course Covid-19 scammers are out in force because of all the fear and panic being instilled in the population by the news media with their announcements of the latest death tolls while sinister music plays in the background. They promise Facts Not Fear but are doing the exact opposite. Now the ‘experts’ appear to be backing off their apocalyptic predictions but what does really mean? Were they wrong in the first place or has the social distancing having an effect? It will be interesting in the coming months when investigative journalists dig into the facts and fictions of this episode.
    There's no "conspiracy" with the "experts" about their "predictions", so your "scare" quotes are unnecessary. No exert said it was an apocalyptic event, in fact they said the contrary:

    "Everybody needs to remember: This is not a zombie apocalypse. It's not a mass extinction event."

    https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-interview-larry-brilliant-smallpox-epidemiologist/

    As for deaths, there's a global quarantine in place (97% of the US ordered), and even with that there has been a large spike of deaths from a highly contagious disease in a very short amount of time. 85,000 so far, a high mortality rate. But thankfully, distancing is working. As the CDC has explained, in the US they originally planned on 50% of the population to adhere to the stay-home order, but the actual number is surprisingly much higher. It's working.



    You can explore the data here:

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/


    I was having a conversation, a few weeks back, with a friend of mine who was concerned that most Americans would believe Trump and not isolate. 

    I asked her why she would think that, when most Americans didn’t vote for him. 

    “See! It wasn’t as bad as the leftie media said it was going to be!”

    Why do they think the markets  imploded  (twice!) and unemployment has shot through the roof. Because we crashed the economy so it wouldn’t be as bad as it was going to be. 
    edited April 2020 watto_cobra
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