Cyber criminals are exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic through a variety of scams and malicious activity, looking to profit from a sudden growth in teleworking, increased use of virtual education systems for online classes, a surge in online shopping, the
need for information related to the pandemic, and the necessity of maintaining functioning critical infrastructure networks.
Watch out for —
- Emails claiming to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or other organizations claiming to offer information on the virus. Do not click links or open attachments you do not recognize. Fraudsters can use links in emails to deliver
malware to your computer to steal personal information or to lock your computer and demand payment. Be wary of websites and apps claiming to track COVID-19 cases worldwide. Criminals are using malicious websites to infect and lock devices until payment
is received.
- Phishing emails asking you to verify your personal information in order to receive an economic stimulus check from the government. Government agencies are not sending unsolicited emails seeking your private information in order to send you money. Phishing
emails may also claim to be related to charitable contributions, general financial relief, airline carrier refunds, fake cures and vaccines, fake testing kits, or counterfeit treatments or equipment.
- Anyone selling products that claim to prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19.
- Counterfeit products such as sanitizing products and personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 respirator masks, goggles, full-face shields, protective gowns, and gloves. For more information, visit the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health web page,
the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Rely on verified sources of information, including www.cdc.gov or www.coronavirus.gov for general information, and NGWA.org/COVID-19 for groundwater industry information.
Scammers promoting phony continuing education offerings
NGWA members have shared that they have received emails from groups claiming to be offering online continuing education classes that are accepted in all 50 states. Please be wary of these offerings!
You should ALWAYS confirm with your state association or state regulatory body that the offering is legitimate. NGWA maintains a directory of state regulatory bodies. Once a state
has been selected, contractors can find their regulatory body under “Licensing/registration of professional.” Information for scientists and engineers is included in a separate section under “Scientist & Engineer Information.”
What you can do to protect yourself from scammers
- Do not open attachments or click links within emails from senders you don’t recognize.
- Do not provide your user name, password, date of birth, Social Security number, financial data, or other personal information in response to an email or robocall.
- Always verify the web address of legitimate websites and manually type them into your browser.
- Check for misspellings or wrong domains within a link (for example, an address that should end in “.gov” ends in “.com” instead).
If you believe you are the victim of an Internet scam or cyber crime, or if you want to report suspicious activity, please visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).