COVID-19 – Beware Scammers

Be aware of scammers

Guidance on avoiding scammers

The Australian Government has an Initiative aimed at helping companies avoid being scammed.

It is called Stay Smart Online.

I was sent this information by a trusted colleague Geoff Hodgens, from the Australian Industry Group, and am posting it here for a wider audience.

What’s happened?

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is aware of a significant increase in Australians being targeted with COVID-19 related scams and phishing emails.
In the last three months, the ACSC and the Australian Competition and the Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch have received over 140 reports from individuals and businesses across Australia.

These phishing emails are often sophisticated, preying on people’s desire for information and imitating trusted and well-known organisations or government agencies.

Clicking on these malicious links or visiting fake websites may automatically install computer viruses or malware and ransomware onto your device, giving cyber criminals the ability to steal your financial and personal information.

These scams are likely to increase over the coming weeks and months and the ACSC strongly encourages organisations and individuals to remain alert.

Here are some examples of what to look out for now:

Example 1: SMS phishing scam messages offering where to get tested for COVID-19 or how to protect yourself

In these examples, the SMS appears to come from ‘GOV’ or ‘GMAIL’, with a malicious link to find out where to get tested in your local area.

Scamwatch and the ACSC is also aware of a SMS scam using the sender identification of ‘myGov.’ These scam messages are appearing in the same conversation threads as previous official SMS messages you may have received from myGov.

Read the rest of the article here….

Wishing you a safe and scam free next few weeks and months.

Steve