Sometimes, phishing scams are so obvious you anticipate seeing them before you actually see them. And many of these are the direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first phishing scam to be on the lookout for is anything associated with a “contact-tracing” app. Contact tracing is a “method used by scientists to slow the spread of infectious outbreaks. During the pandemic, anyone sufferers might have been in prolonged contact with will be traced. Those contacts may then be asked to self-isolate.” The first country to produce an app to do this was the UK.
Sure enough, the first signs that hackers have jumped on the contact-tracing app to launch a phishing campaign comes from an article in the Guardian. According to the article, “Members of the public have been alerted to a scam in which fraudsters use a bogus version of the UK contact-tracing app being trialed on the Isle of Wight. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) said it had evidence of a phishing scam that uses a text message to try to fool people into believing they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.”
Next up? How about mortgage rescue phishing scams? Afterall, the pandemic has led to some people needing relief from their mortgage payments. So, it’s not a stretch to expect scammers to jump on the opportunity. Sure enough, the mortgage industry is preparing for a rise in mortgage fraud.
They’re not the only ones who think that. Stu Sjouwerman of KnowBe4 said “With so many individuals out of work, furloughed, and having trouble keeping up with mortgage payments, I predict we’re going to see a resurgence of this scam. [T]hose who haven’t been able to pay their current mortgage will be susceptible to new mortgage ‘rescue’ scams – ones that claim to be able to help fend off foreclosure, refinance anyone, and generally improve the financial situation of those with many missed payments.”
You know it’s coming. The only question is, what are you going to do about it? One fast and easy thing you could do about it is to deploy cloud-based phishing protection software with real-time link click protection like that available from DuoCircle.
Phishing Protection from DuoCircle sets up in 10 minutes, works with all major email providers and costs only pennies per user per month. More importantly, Phishing Protection sniffs out the newest phishing scam, no matter what it is.
The scammers are not going to stop. You know it’s coming. There’s no excuse. Get Phishing Protection from DuoCircle and sleep good at night. Try it free for 60 days.