FBI reports increase in coronavirus-related fraud schemes, offers advice

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the nation, the FBI says it has seen a rise in coronavirus-related fraud schemes.

The FBI has seen hundreds of virus-related fraud complaints “come flooding in” in recent weeks, according to Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis.

Many scammers impersonate government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in emails with spoof links and embedded malware or ransomware, Dargis said during a phone interview Monday morning.

“[The scammer’s emails] have a title, or a headline that says, you know, ‘Information about coronavirus,’ and inside the emails, they’ll say, ‘Click on this link to learn more about this deadly disease,’ and people click on the link,” Dargis explained. “And instead of going to a website with information, it’s embedding malware on your computer, or ransomware — the kind of virus that encrypts and locks your hard drive, and you can’t get into it until you pay the bad guys a large sum of money.”

On March 20, the bureau issued a public service announcement advising consumers to be on the lookout for fake CDC emails.

“Don’t provide your name, date of birth, Social Security number or financial data to anyone who claims to be from a government agency, via by an unsolicited email or even on a phone call,” Dargis said. “U.S. government agencies don’t collect that kind of information through an email.”

The PSA also advised consumers to be on the lookout for phishing emails seeking personal information related to economic stimulus checks, stating “while talk of economic stimulus checks has been in the news cycle, government agencies are not sending unsolicited emails seeking your private information in order to send you money.”

Lastly, the FBI warned consumers to look out for illegitimate vendors advertising COVID-19 cures or vaccines, and advised everyone to research any online vendors possibly selling counterfeit equipment.

“If you see something that you’re interested in, and it seems like it’s a good deal, and you want to look into it, just do some research,” Dargis said. “It takes a couple of minutes. You can type into any search engine, the name of the website or the name of the product that you’re interested in, then type the word ‘scam’ after it.”

Additional information from the CDC regarding proper personal protective equipment may be found at www.cdc.gov/niosh.

Anyone who believes they are the victim of an Internet scam or cybercrime, or if they want to report suspicious activity, may visit the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.