Cyber Frauds Exploit Covid Alarm In City

Delhi cops in tizzy as criminals target people with e-mails feigning as official info on virus to break into their social media & bank accounts

- Ankit Kumar and Chayyanika Nigam

Coronavirus fears have forced many companies into letting their employees work from home. The number of those going under home quarantine is also rising by the day in Delhi-NCR.

As screen time is increasing, cybercriminals have found a new tool to target people — spyware wrapped around Corona-related communications like the Delhi government’s order on shutdowns, the Union health ministry’s advisory and the WHO’s e-mails offering free testing kits or updates.

“Many people tend to engage for obvious reasons and end up having their phones and computers taken over by spyware. In no time, their e-mails, social media and bank accounts are broken into,” said a police official.

On Friday, Delhi reported its first COVID-19 death. Six patients are under treatment. There are hundreds of others in quarantine. The situation has forced authorities to declare Coronavirus an epidemic in Delhi and order closure of schools & colleges — barring exam centres — and cinema halls till March 31.

As the Centre and the Delhi government are making efforts to contain the virus spread, people want to be updated. And this is what hackers are taking advantage of.

An e-mail feigning to be an official notification about the closure of schools, colleges and cinema halls in Delhi has gone to many who have been told to click on a link for more information. Those who have done so have had their phones and computers compromised.

Many others have also received an e-mail that claims to have come from the WHO office, offering free healthcare kits. Malware Hunter Team has identified a similar e-mail that pretends to be a WHO update on the Coronavirus outbreak. It contains a file that wants to take people to an external page which will end up installing an encrypted malware in their phones and computers.