Ways scams change in the time of COVID-19.

Scammers will jump on any opportunity to steal money from people. 2020 and beyond has seen a huge rise in scammers altering their formats slightly to cater to this. The end result is the same, but the big news story is now mentioned and woven into the scam. Here’s an example of two emails sent just over a year apart. It begins with the very first paragraph:

“How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family?,You may not
understand why this mail came to you.”

“How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family Please stay
safe from Covid-19 pandemic?, You may not understand why this mail
came to you.”

Simple enough so far. Let’s look a little further down:

“This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of
the world, the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the
sum of USD $100,000 (One hundred thousand United State Dollars Only).”

“This email is to all
the people that shut down their businesses because of the Corona
virus (COVID-19 pandemic) all over the world, Meanwhile the UNITED
NATIONS and the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to
compensate them with the sum of US$500,000,00 (Five Hundred Thousand
United States Dollars)”

Now it’s all to do with COVID, and they’re adding the WHO into the mix. Next we see this:

“This includes every foreign contractors that may have not received
their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction
or international businesses that failed due to Government problems
etc.”

“This includes every foreign contractors that may have not received
their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction
or international businesses that failed due to the covid 19 pandemic
disaster over the world etc.”

After that, the scam goes on pretty much identically. The amounts and names change and the claimed method of payment is altered from bank draft to ATM card, but the scam itself is the same:

“Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone
number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the
Draft to you.”

“Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone
number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the
Card to you.”

When COVID-19 is finally in the rear view mirror, scammers will be looking for the next emergency they can exploit to separate people from their hard earned money. The good thing is, they’re predictable, so we can anticipate and prepare for the next wave, then get the word out as soon as possible to help protect people from the scams.