If you’ve been our customer for a long time or if you’ve read my blog posts, you know we’re always talking about scams. These scams come in the form of phone calls, pop-ups and fake web pages. They also come in emails and text messages. Under normal circumstances, these scams are bad. Unfortunately, our current Covid-19 pandemic has caused the number and intensity of these scams to explode.
Let’s look at the warnings I’ve been getting from the FBI in just the last few days:
- FBI Warns of Emerging Health Care Fraud Schemes Related to COVID-19 Pandemic
- FBI Expects a Rise in Scams Involving Cryptocurrency Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- FBI Warns of Advance Fee and BEC Schemes Related to Procurement of PPE and Other Supplies During COVID-19 Pandemic
- Protect Your Wallet—and Your Health—from Pandemic Scammers
Besides these legitimate warnings I’ve been getting from the FBI, I’ve received a ton of fake Coronavirus-related emails. These emails include trying to sell me face masks, gloves and more. Here are a couple of screenshots of two of them:
My words of caution: be leery of any emails you receive trying to sell you virus-related products. There is no vaccine at this point, there are no private companies selling you test kits. Just be careful with anything related to the virus.