We’ve mentioned COVID-19 phishing email and scams a few times in the past months, but the vast numbers of these attacks makes it necessary to remind as many people as we can of these scams. There has been an estimated 192,000 coronavirus-related phishing attacks per week over the past three weeks.
Also in the past three weeks, almost 20,000 new coroavirus-related web addresses were registered. An estimated 17% of them are fraudulent, malicious or suspicious.
What’s next for these phishers? Mortgage rescue scams and help with bills in general. With the “new normal” of government assistance, phishers have been designing campaigns to lure people by pretending to be banks, other lenders, or different government agencies offering to help out with bills, debt reduction and specifically mortgage help, as that is usually the largest purchase an individual makes.
Be on the lookout for the scams. Remember the first principle of spotting a phish – if something looks like it is too good to be true, it probably is.
If you have any questions about emails received to your UTHSC account, forward them to abuse@uthsc.edu. We’ll let you know if they are a phish, scam, or a legitimate email. If it is a scam, you are probably not the only one that got it. After it is reported, we can take steps to stop it reaching others in our community.
Stay safe everyone!