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A pharmacy worker in France holding a box of hydroxychloroquine.
- Scammers are creating hundreds of shady websites to trick people searching for information about certain drugs with shaky links to COVID-19 treatment, according to a new report.
- President Trump has repeatedly promoted antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as coronavirus treatments, but scientists say it's too soon to tell whether the treatment works.
- Researchers found many scam websites created in recent weeks that aim to capitalize on people's interest in the drugs and trick them into spending money or handing over personal information.
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Without evidence, President Donald Trump has repeatedly endorsed antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as experimental treatments for coronavirus in recent weeks.
Scientists say there isn't enough evidence to show that the drugs, which can have serious side effects, could treat or prevent COVID-19. But that hasn't stopped the president's remarks from gaining traction with people desperate for potential coronavirus treatments.
Google trends show huge spikes in interest for the two drugs in the past month. Other public figures with no medical background - including Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk - have touted the drugs despite scientists' warnings, contributing to the hype.
Now, scammers are cashing in on the public's rising interest in the questionable coronavirus treatments.
Researchers with security rating service NormShield have identified at least 362 new websites pushing questionable coronavirus drugs that have appeared since January. The vast majority of them mention hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, while others mention Remdesivir, a potential coronavirus treatment that's still in early testing.
Fraudulent sites typically focus on phishing, or the practice of tricking people into hand over personal information. But many of the sites pushing questionable coronavirus treatments aim to extract money from victims, NormShield's Chief Security Officer Bob Maley said.
"In this particular cases, the purpose looks like monetary fraud - trying to get people to hand over money to ostensibly purchase these drugs," Maley told Business Insider.
Scammers are used to following news and search trends and exploiting them to make money from people's fears an interests. Coronavirus-related scams are no exception, Maley said, and the majority of the scam sites appeared after Trump began touting the antimalarial drugs in March.
"Where we really started to see the uptick was mid-March," he said. "Elon Musk had tweeted about it, and also President Trump started talking about it, which is when it really took off."
The sites most likely trick people into spending money on drugs without ever actually shipping any product to victims who fall for the scam. But more broadly, an increased interest in the drugs worldwide has caused a shortage for people who already take them to treat conditions like lupus. Scientists have also warned that misusing them can lead to dire side effects.
Read NormShield's full report here.
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