{"id":89550,"date":"2021-01-21T18:48:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T13:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.quickheal.com\/?p=89550"},"modified":"2023-06-20T16:45:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T11:15:42","slug":"cyberattackers-breaking-in-through-covid-19-vaccination-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/cyberattackers-breaking-in-through-covid-19-vaccination-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyberattackers breaking in through COVID-19 vaccination data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cybercriminals infiltrate through the roll-out of the <\/em><\/strong>COVID-19 vaccine<\/em><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States\u2019 premier intelligence agency, put out<\/a> a warning about frauds related to COVID-19 vaccines. \u201cThe FBI, HHS-OIG, and CMS have received complaints of scammers using the public\u2019s interest in COVID-19 vaccines to obtain personally identifiable information (PII) and money through various schemes,\u201d warns the agency, before going on to provide details on potential indicators of fraudulent activity.<\/p>\n

This is a grave problem especially from an Indian perspective \u2014 illiteracy looms large in a major chunk of our population making them susceptible to being misled.\u00a0 An escalating issue, The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular to the public warning them about a \u2018pay and register<\/a>\u2019 scheme scamming people under the pretext of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.<\/p>\n

The aforementioned FBI\u2019s official warning has an extensive list of potential fraudulent indicators that deserves your attention. Awareness is the key to protect against vaccine-related threats and to fight the spread of misinformation. Consumers should only follow trusted local & regional news sources to be aware of vaccine distribution programs. Authentic information on distribution schedules will ensure that you are not a victim of a cyberattack.<\/p>\n

Here are a few tips that will help you to stay away from the perils of this particular scam –<\/p>\n

Be suspicious of clicking on links asking for personal information<\/h2>\n

Tricking people into believing that they have been chosen for vaccination is becoming common<\/a>. Practice caution when you receive links asking to fill in personal information \u2014 refrain if you sense suspicion.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t transfer money without proper verification<\/h2>\n

Another way in which adversaries are using the pandemic for personal gain is by tricking unsuspecting people into sending money over to them in return for the vaccine. Don\u2019t send money<\/a> to someone who promises to vaccinate you or your family \u2014 it is most likely a scam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Impersonation is rampant \u2014 stay calm<\/h2>\n

Cybercriminals might trick you by disguising as officials from health ministries, pharmaceutical companies or corporate offices.\u00a0 Stay calm and verify the legitimacy of the source so that you don\u2019t fall for impersonation tactics.<\/p>\n

Misinformation and fake news<\/h2>\n

Fake news is one of the greatest threats of our age \u2014 misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine has not been an exception. Various conspiracy<\/a> theories have already started propagating about the vaccine, amplified by social media messaging. If you get messages with facts trying to scare you about the vaccine, don\u2019t get taken in by the misinformation \u2014 verify the source and stop the chain of fake news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cybercriminals infiltrate through the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine! The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States\u2019 premier intelligence agency, put out a warning about frauds related to COVID-19 vaccines. \u201cThe FBI, HHS-OIG, and CMS have received complaints of scammers using the public\u2019s interest in COVID-19 vaccines to obtain personally identifiable information (PII) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":89551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1769],"tags":[1727,699,1770],"class_list":["post-89550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-covid-19","tag-covid-19","tag-india","tag-vaccination"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89550"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89553,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89550\/revisions\/89553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickheal.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}