Government security agency issues alert about scams on Aarogya Setu, WHO and other COVID-19-related websites: Dos and don’ts

The Cyber Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has alerted citizens to be careful about scams related to COVID-19. Cyber criminals are increasingly trying to take advantage of the pandemic to skim money through fake charity schemes and steal personal banking information through phishing scams. Here are 10 things you should be careful about…

Fraudsters are using fake domains to make copies of popular apps such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams to lure the victims.

CERT-In alerts that scammers are using all platforms like WhatsApp, SMS, emails and other popular social media platforms to scam people.

Aarogya Setu app focused phishing has seen high rise. Scammers impersonate as HR department, CEO, or any other known person and target users by spreading messages as "Your neighbour is affected", "See who all are affected", "Someone who came in contact with you tested positive","recommendations to self-isolate","Guidelines to use Aarogya Setu".

Cyber criminals are sending phishing emails impersonating WHO and e-mails appear to be originating from the domain of WHO. Such emails may contain malicious files and URLs.

Fraudsters are using the interest of people in coronavirus related news to dupe them. New phishing domains are created which are centered around the subject such as "relief package", "safety tips during corona", "corona testing kit", "corona vaccine", "payment and donation during corona". Beware about phishing domain, spelling errors in emails, websites and unfamiliar email senders