Now, a phishing scam uses ‘Coronavirus’ on emails to lure people

• Sophos Labs has identified a phishing scam that uses the coronavirus as its lure.
• An email is sent to people with a clickable document that allegedly shares information on precautions one can take to prevent the infection.
• Coronavirus is currently one of the most searched terms on the internet.

As the Coronavirus scare grips the world, there are WhatsApp messages being sent out, Facebook forwards, Tweets and more with just information on how one can stay safe. The curiosity is at an all-time high and cyber hackers are now taking advantage of it.

Leading cybersecurity firm Sophos Labs identified a phishing scam that uses the coronavirus as a lure. An email is sent to people with a clickable document that allegedly shares information on precautions one can take to prevent the infection. But the document is actually a virus itself.

Sophos Labs has said the attackers are using the same mechanism as ‘Trickbots’ that has been doing the round for months.

“The cybercriminals behind Trickbot are likely skilled attackers who leverage the concern of the day to scare people into clicking. While this is in Italy now, we would expect a similar attack in other countries where fears of COVID-19 outbreaks are high. The best approach to avoid this type of cyberattack is to turn off macros, be extra cautious about what you click, and delete email that is suspicious or from an unexpected source,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos.

Coronavirus is currently one of the most searched terms on the internet. Google’s worldwide trend shows that the search has peaked in the last few days.

But it's not just coronavirus. Cyber security experts say that whenever there is a global phenomena which peaks user interest, attackers use that topic to lure people into scams.

“Whenever there is a topic of public interest like COVID-19 or the Australian bush fires, we see cybercriminals try to manipulate our concern into an opportunity. We must stay vigilant and be distrustful of incoming communications during times of crisis and only obtain advice from our public health authorities,” said Wisniewski.

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