Scumwatch
The number of coronavirus-related cyber attacks continues to rise, with one survey reporting a 30% increase in the past two weeks. Check Point says most attacks start with phishing emails which impersonate the UN, World Health Organisation, Zoom, Microsoft or Google to try and trick users into clicking on links or opening infected documents. Criminals have been busily registering domain names that look like real ones, and which might pass a cursory inspection. But other time-honoured scams are continuing as well. A webstore offering hard to find gadgets at suspiciously low prices topped Google's search results for days despite customer complaints that it was a scam. And the BBC also has the story of a couple who lost their £4,200 savings when criminals faked emails from their solicitors. "It had the logo, a breakdown of costs, what they were for and dates, so there was nothing to trigger any red flags. We eventually realised the only difference was a hyphen rather than a full stop in one part of the email address," they said.