7 October 2022
Stay Alert! Scammers Are Imitating WHO To Steal Bitcoins
Scammers are imitating WHO with the aim to steal bitcoins that were received in donations to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sophos, a cybersecurity firm reported that scammers are misguiding people who are trying to help in COVID-19 pandemic. People are tricked in sending donations in BTC to scammers addresses while they think WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is receiving the donations.
WHO has launched a Solidarity Response Fund after the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic. It is supported by the tech giants like facebook and Google pandemic.
The screenshots were shared on Twitter of a fake email from scammers that imitated the World Health Organization. In screenshots it seems the email address is spoofed to make it appear as a correspondence comes from the WHO and they are asking for donations in BTC.
Currently, the bitcoin addresses which scammers used are empty. It's not clear if scammers have used other addresses in their emails. The coronavirus pandemic has become the platform for scammers to conduct their all illegal activities from using fake tracking applications to imitating WHO.
Every government in the world is warning people about the potential threat from the scammers. The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has issued a warning letter that states,
“Watch out for scams related to coronavirus (Covid-19). These scams take many forms and could be about insurance policies, pensions transfers, or high-return investment opportunities, including investments in cryptoassets.”
As per the report, scammers who are selling medical supplies have earned around $2 million worth of cryptocurrency from people. Although, the ransomware groups have stated that they will not attack on healthcare providers during the pandemic.