Since mid-February, the National Cybersecurity Agency of the UK has targeted and eradicated more than 2,000 scams. Such a high number of cases targeted by an arm of the GHCQ Intelligence Agency of the UK in a single month is evidence that cyber attackers are leaving no measures to spread COVID-19 fear and panic among online users.

According to the details launched by the NCSC, UK, the 2,000 reported scams include:

• 888 Advance-fee frauds that directed victims to submit payments to get good returns

• 555 websites practicing malware attacks on visitors

• 471 stores scamming people by selling fake Coronavirus-related items

• 200 Phishing sites stealing personal information such as credit card details and passwords

What can you do?

You can also become a part of NSCS’s missions to eliminate the cyberattacks as the GCHQ has decided to collaborate with the Londoners and the City of London Police. The new collaboration program will deploy a Suspicious Email Reporting Service directly to the Police.

If you are someone who is being targeted by scammers through suspicious COVID-19 related emails, they can send it to [email protected]. The Service providers will expertly analyze the email link, determine its nature, and remove it immediately if the link is confirmed as a phishing or scamming link.

Follow the NCSC Guide

Since commoners are the main target of COVID-19 Scams, the NCSC of the UK has launched a guide to enable people to enhance their online security. According to the Cyber Aware Advice, here are some of the compelling ways you can adopt to prevent COVID-19 Cyberattacks:

• Create passwords based on three random words to secure essential accounts

• Enable two-factor authentication for crucial accounts

• Set up a separate, unique, new password for your email account

• Enable automatic updates on apps and software downloaded on your device or manually update everything regularly

• Backup important data to evade Ransomware

In Short

Times are hard, but that does not mean that we give up and fall into the trap of COVID-19 scams. By adopting suitable measures, critical situations can be avoided.