Anna:
Yesterday I received a letter from the World Health Organization. The subject line read "Development of a coronavirus vaccine". I got interested and opened the letter. It said that scientists around the world are actively working on a vaccine and a cure for coronavirus, and WHO oversees this work. But the development is very expensive, so all caring people are invited to support the research. It was written that you can donate any amount, even a very small one. And then a link to the site where you can do it. I decided not to stand aside and transfer $ 5. I followed the link, entered the card details, the amount and clicked “pay”. They wrote off $ 5. And then several times in a row different amounts, until all the money on the card runs out. It turns out that they were swindlers, and not the World Health Organization?
Financial Culture Expert:
Quite often, scammers become active during natural disasters, man-made disasters and epidemics. They urge people to make donations, ostensibly to help the victims. Deceivers often disguise themselves as official organizations.
Legends can be very different. In the case of the coronavirus, the scammers also offer to buy medical masks, super disinfectant, medicines, vaccines and even amulets that protect against any disease.
In some cases, scammers do not even call to transfer money or buy something. They simply send a letter or message linking to the most relevant recommendations on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, on behalf of reputable organizations.
In reality, fraudsters use the situation to their advantage - to steal money from a card or gain access to personal data, messages and banking applications of a person who has fallen on their hook.
Scammers create special phishing sites that collect personal data and payment details of users. This information allows them to reset other people's accounts.
Instead of recommendations on how to combat the coronavirus, a person is most likely waiting for a malicious program. It will penetrate a phone, tablet or computer and gain access to confidential data - for example, to a password from an online bank.
If you are offered to make a donation to the account of a well-known organization, you need to go to its official website and make sure that it is really collecting money. The site must contain the details of the organization or links to pages where money can be transferred in a secure way.
In cases where an organization or an online store is unknown to you, you should first look for information and reviews about them on the Internet.
In order not to fall for the tricks of criminals, you must follow other cybersecurity rules:
Yesterday I received a letter from the World Health Organization. The subject line read "Development of a coronavirus vaccine". I got interested and opened the letter. It said that scientists around the world are actively working on a vaccine and a cure for coronavirus, and WHO oversees this work. But the development is very expensive, so all caring people are invited to support the research. It was written that you can donate any amount, even a very small one. And then a link to the site where you can do it. I decided not to stand aside and transfer $ 5. I followed the link, entered the card details, the amount and clicked “pay”. They wrote off $ 5. And then several times in a row different amounts, until all the money on the card runs out. It turns out that they were swindlers, and not the World Health Organization?
Financial Culture Expert:
Quite often, scammers become active during natural disasters, man-made disasters and epidemics. They urge people to make donations, ostensibly to help the victims. Deceivers often disguise themselves as official organizations.
Legends can be very different. In the case of the coronavirus, the scammers also offer to buy medical masks, super disinfectant, medicines, vaccines and even amulets that protect against any disease.
In some cases, scammers do not even call to transfer money or buy something. They simply send a letter or message linking to the most relevant recommendations on how to protect yourself from the coronavirus, on behalf of reputable organizations.
In reality, fraudsters use the situation to their advantage - to steal money from a card or gain access to personal data, messages and banking applications of a person who has fallen on their hook.
Scammers create special phishing sites that collect personal data and payment details of users. This information allows them to reset other people's accounts.
Instead of recommendations on how to combat the coronavirus, a person is most likely waiting for a malicious program. It will penetrate a phone, tablet or computer and gain access to confidential data - for example, to a password from an online bank.
If you are offered to make a donation to the account of a well-known organization, you need to go to its official website and make sure that it is really collecting money. The site must contain the details of the organization or links to pages where money can be transferred in a secure way.
In cases where an organization or an online store is unknown to you, you should first look for information and reviews about them on the Internet.
In order not to fall for the tricks of criminals, you must follow other cybersecurity rules:
- Do not follow links from letters from unknown senders.
- Check the site's address bar - phishing sites often differ from the official ones by just one or two letters.
- Use a separate card for online payments and deposit the required amount on it immediately before purchase.
- Install antivirus on all your devices and update it regularly. A good anti-virus package includes protection against spam and phishing emails. He himself recognizes suspicious addressees.
- If the criminals have already received your card details, block it and ask the bank to issue a new one.
