Sadly, there has been a reported increase in cyber criminal activity during the coronavirus outbreak due in part to a huge increase in workers operating remotely. Both you and your clients may receive emails which proport to be from Government, reputable companies or individuals in order to induce the recipient to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers or to transfer funds to unauthorised persons.
Today, the National Cyber Security Centre, a branch of GCHQ that BIBA has been working with on a number cyber insurance initiatives, is calling on people who receive emails they believe to be coronavirus phishing scams to report these to them so they can take action.
They ask people to forward any dubious emails to [email protected], and the NCSC’s automated scanning system will check for scam emails and immediately remove criminal sites.
Our further advice is if you or your clients are suspicious about any communication received, particularly unexpected or unsolicited communications, do not click on any content or links in the mail or use any contact information contained within it. Look up the contact details of the individual or organisation that has contacted you and independently verify the communication is legitimate.