COVID-19 scams

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COVID-19 scams are frauds whose cover story primarily relies on the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such scams have been reported in multiple countries, primarily the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Contents

Within the United Kingdom there were many instances of companies contracted to provide COVID-19 testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE), when the companies had direct ties to those in the UK parliament.

COVID-19 scam phone calls in UK; heatmap Covid-19 heatmap.png
COVID-19 scam phone calls in UK; heatmap

Initiation

COVID-19 scams are initiated in a variety of ways, such as by robocalls, emails, fake blog and social media posts [2] and text messaging. [3] Researchers found that fear of COVID-19 and anxiety increased the success of phishing scams. [4]

Types of scams

Benefit/grant scams

In this variation of COVID-19 scams, the fraudster claims that the victim is eligible for a COVID-19 benefit payment. This scam is a derivative of the advance-fee scam, where the scammer will ask the victim for a small payment in return for the 'benefit'. The scammer will then ask for further payments under the guise of problems, until the victim refuses to pay any further. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Authority impersonation scams

The United Nations WHO has issued a warning that fraudsters posing as employees of the WHO were attempting to gain personal information through phishing emails and fake help lines. [10]

COVID-19 vaccination scams

In this variation, the fraudster will offer to sell the victim a 'COVID-19 vaccine' or treatment. Victims who fall for this scam reveal their personal information and payment information to the scammer. In one reported incident, victims in the UK were sent a text message purporting to be from the National Health Service which claimed that they were now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, but needed to fill their personal details into an online phishing form to book a place on the program. Information lost by the victims included their debit card information, which was then used to withdraw funds from the victim's bank account. COVID-19 vaccination scams have been reported in various countries including the United Kingdom, [11] United States [12] and Singapore. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

COVID-19 testing scams

In this variation of COVID-19 scams, the fraudster claims they are authorized testing site that could offer COVID-19 test. But it require people to offer their health-related information. US department of Health and Human Services sent fraud alert to the public about fraud schemes. [19]

In the United States, victims were persuaded to buy stocks in companies which were claimed to be about to release a 'miracle cure' for COVID-19 through posts in Facebook. [20] The Independent reported that online adverts claimed to sell "vaccine bonds" purportedly linked to the US drug company and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer, which were sold with a minimum of US$10,000 investment. Pfizer confirmed it had no links to these bonds. [21]

As of mid-December 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in 36 companies which claimed to have access to COVID-19 related materials such as testing kits and treatments. [20]

United Kingdom Fraud

The first published incident was in May 2020, where a healthcare firm was contracted to produce COVID-19 testing kits, however there was no competitive process to the contract and the healthcare firm hired a Conservative MP Owen Paterson as a consultant [22] . Subsequent contracts worth £1.7 billion to have been handed out without due process, prioritising those with connections within the government [23] .

Further issues appeared as there were issues with some of the masks purchased, leading to the removal of fifty million masks, a £252 million contract, as they did not meet the health standards provided by the NHS. In December 2020, a company was found to have provided £122 million worth of gowns that weren't used due to the slow approval process, which was hampered due to investigations into the companies origins, as it had been formed 6 weeks prior to the contract.

Losses

According to the Federal Trade Commission, from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to April 30, 2020, US$13.44M was lost in total due to coronavirus fraud. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advance-fee scam</span> Type of confidence trick fraud

An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears.

Scam baiting is a form of internet vigilantism primarily used towards advance-fee fraud, IRS impersonation scams, technical support scams, pension scams, and consumer financial fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phishing</span> Form of social engineering

Phishing is a form of illegal social engineering and scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and often transparently mirror the site being targeted, allowing the attacker to observe everything while the victim is navigating the site, and transverse any additional security boundaries with the victim. As of 2020, it is the most common type of cybercrime, with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting more incidents of phishing than any other type of computer crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet fraud</span> Fraud or deception using the Internet

Internet fraud is a type of cybercrime fraud or deception which makes use of the Internet and could involve hiding of information or providing incorrect information for the purpose of tricking victims out of money, property, and inheritance. Internet fraud is not considered a single, distinctive crime but covers a range of illegal and illicit actions that are committed in cyberspace. It is, however, differentiated from theft since, in this case, the victim voluntarily and knowingly provides the information, money or property to the perpetrator. It is also distinguished by the way it involves temporally and spatially separated offenders.

Email fraud is intentional deception for either personal gain or to damage another individual using email as the vehicle. Almost as soon as email became widely used, it began to be used as a means to defraud people, just as telephony and paper mail were used by previous generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lottery scam</span> Fraud pretending to be a lottery

A lottery scam is a type of advance-fee fraud which begins with an unexpected email notification, phone call, or mailing explaining that "You have won!" a large sum of money in a lottery. The recipient of the message—the target of the scam—is usually told to keep the notice secret, "due to a mix-up in some of the names and numbers," and to contact a "claims agent." After contacting the agent, the target of the scam will be asked to pay "processing fees" or "transfer charges" so that the winnings can be distributed, but will never receive any lottery payment. Many email lottery scams use the names of legitimate lottery organizations or other legitimate corporations/companies, but this does not mean the legitimate organizations are in any way involved with the scams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romance scam</span> Confidence trick using romantic intentions

A romance scam is a confidence trick involving feigning romantic intentions towards a victim, gaining the victim's affection, and then using that goodwill to get the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretenses or to commit fraud against the victim. Fraudulent acts may involve access to the victim's money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; or forcing the victims to commit financial fraud on their behalf.

Voice phishing, or vishing, is the use of telephony to conduct phishing attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technical support scam</span> Type of fraud and confidence trick

A technical support scam, or tech support scam, is a type of fraud in which a scammer claims to offer a legitimate technical support service. Victims contact scammers in a variety of ways, often through fake pop-ups resembling error messages or via fake "help lines" advertised on websites owned by the scammers. Technical support scammers use social engineering and a variety of confidence tricks to persuade their victim of the presence of problems on their computer or mobile device, such as a malware infection, when there are no issues with the victim's device. The scammer will then persuade the victim to pay to fix the fictitious "problems" that they claim to have found. Payment is made to the scammer through ways which are hard to trace and have fewer consumer protections in place which could allow the victim to claim their money back, usually through gift cards.

A SIM swap scam is a type of account takeover fraud that generally targets a weakness in two-factor authentication and two-step verification in which the second factor or step is a text message (SMS) or call placed to a mobile telephone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitboga (streamer)</span> American YouTuber, Twitch streamer, and scambaiter

Kitboga is the Internet alias of an American Twitch streamer and YouTuber whose content primarily focuses on scam baiting against phone fraud. His channel has over 1 million followers on Twitch, and his YouTube channel has over 3 million subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine</span> Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Warp Speed</span> US program to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine efforts

Operation Warp Speed (OWS) was a public–private partnership initiated by the United States government to facilitate and accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The first news report of Operation Warp Speed was on April 29, 2020, and the program was officially announced on May 15, 2020. It was headed by Moncef Slaoui from May 2020 to January 2021 and by David A. Kessler from January to February 2021. At the end of February 2021, Operation Warp Speed was transferred into the responsibilities of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020</span> Chronology of responses worldwide

This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine</span> Type of vaccine for humans

The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty, is an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech. For its development, BioNTech collaborated with the American company Pfizer to carry out clinical trials, logistics, and manufacturing. It is authorized for use in humans to provide protection against COVID-19, caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine is given by intramuscular injection. It is composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA (modRNA) encoding a mutated form of the full-length spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles. Initial advice indicated that vaccination required two doses given 21 days apart, but the interval was later extended to up to 42 days in the US, and up to four months in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom</span> Immunisation against COVID-19

The COVID-19 vaccination programme in the United Kingdom is an ongoing mass immunisation campaign for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of COVID-19 vaccine development</span> Scientific work to develop a vaccine for COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was isolated in late 2019. Its genetic sequence was published on 11 January 2020, triggering an urgent international response to prepare for an outbreak and hasten the development of a preventive COVID-19 vaccine. Since 2020, vaccine development has been expedited via unprecedented collaboration in the multinational pharmaceutical industry and between governments. By June 2020, tens of billions of dollars were invested by corporations, governments, international health organizations, and university research groups to develop dozens of vaccine candidates and prepare for global vaccination programs to immunize against COVID‑19 infection. According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the geographic distribution of COVID‑19 vaccine development shows North American entities to have about 40% of the activity, compared to 30% in Asia and Australia, 26% in Europe, and a few projects in South America and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine</span> Plan to immunize against COVID-19

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine is an ongoing mass immunization campaign for the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy</span> Misinformation regarding the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the resulting hesitancy towards it

Anti-vaccination activists and other people in many countries have spread a variety of unfounded conspiracy theories and other misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines based on misunderstood or misrepresented science, religion, and law. These have included exaggerated claims about side effects, misrepresentations about how the immune system works and when and how COVID-19 vaccines are made, a story about COVID-19 being spread by 5G, and other false or distorted information. This misinformation has proliferated and may have made many people averse to vaccination. This has led to governments and private organizations around the world introducing measures to incentivize or coerce vaccination, such as lotteries, mandates, and free entry to events, which has in turn led to further misinformation about the legality and effect of these measures themselves.

References

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