Cybercriminals taking advantage of novel coronavirus emergency

WHO issues coronavirus scam alert to aware the public against cybercriminals attempting to take advantage of the 2019 novel coronavirus emergency.

The World Health Organization recently issued a coronavirus scam alert to aware the public against cybercriminals pretending themselves as WHO representatives to steal money or sensitive information such as user names and passwords.

"Criminals are disguising themselves as WHO to steal money or sensitive information. If you are contacted by a person or organization that appears to be from WHO, verify their authenticity before responding. Beware that criminals use email, websites, phone calls, text messages, and even fax messages for their scams," the United Nations health agency said in its alert.

WHO confirmed that it never asks people to donate directly to emergency response plans, log in to view safety information or visit an outside link or any of the other suspicious things.

How to prevent phishing: WHO recommendations

WHO said it is aware of the suspicious email messages attempting to take advantage of the 2019 novel coronavirus emergency. According to the health agency, the phishing emails, malicious emails sent by scammers, will ask users to share sensitive information, click a malicious link or open a malicious attachment.

WHO recommends users to:

• Verify the sender by checking their email address

Except 'who.int', the health organization does not send email from addresses ending in '@who.com', '@who.org' or '@who-safety.org' or any other address.

• Check the link before you click

Either navigate to the WHO website directly, by typing 'https://www.who.int' into your browser or make sure that the link starts with 'https://www.who.int'.

• Do not share personal information

There is no point in sharing your personal details like username and password to access public information.

• Do not panic

Cybercriminals always take advantage of global emergencies such as 2019-nCov to get people to make decisions quickly. Do not panic, instead, take time to verify their authenticity before sharing your personal information. Even if you share your sensitive data unknowingly, immediately change the credentials on each site you used them at.

• Report directly to the WHO

If you notice a scam, you can directly contact the WHO here.