Hackers add new tricks to 'extort money' for victims of Covid-19 season

The anxiety of many people during the Covid-19 pandemic became an opportunity for many cyber criminals, employing every trick to make money.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the bewilderment and confusion of many Americans around the federal bailout during the Covid-19 season to steal that money or receive payment to guide victims to receive payments. Some scammers are cooperating with hackers to send out fake emails from federal agencies to distribute malware. Security experts also discovered multiple attacks via the Internet to obtain business or personal information and then redirected to bankers' bank accounts.

'These cases are many now. I noticed that in March alone, the fraud by the above methods increased to 670%. Fraud on loans and economic stimulus began to appear before the bill was passed, '' said data protection expert Roger Grimes at KnowBe4.

Phishing comes from many different forms such as email, advertising on the web or on social networks. The latter promises to help users receive a $ 1,200 grant, or the Economic Crisis Impact (EIDL) loan from the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (USA), or receive paperwork and legal procedures for the Wage Protection Program (PPP).

Depending on the attacker, emails and advertisements can pretend to be sent from a bank or loan support service, often using logos (logos) from legitimate sources. To increase persuasion, scammers often create new websites that look reputable (and like those of legitimate root services. New domain registrations related to stimulus packages and business loans are up to 145,000 in just one month.

According to Forbes, there are 3 main types of new fraud. The first is a phishing attack to obtain the necessary information from the victim to sign up for PPP or EIDL support. The second type also for stealing information but the purpose is to update the payment information on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website to receive payment of benefits. Finally, a form of fraud that solicited users to pay them to process documents for victims, but in reality they only cost money and get nothing.