FBI warns of COVID-19 fraud and phishing schemes

Executive briefing: On March 20, 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) published a public service announcement warning of increased COVID-19-related fraud. The PSA highlighted phishing emails with pandemic lures, fake charity and crowdfunding requests, counterfeit equipment sales, and malware delivered through telework or video-conference offers. IC3 urged users to scrutinize pandemic-themed communications, validate vendors, and report suspicious activity.

Why it matters

• Threat actors rapidly rebranded existing phishing kits and malware with COVID-19 themes to exploit remote-work disruption.
• Organizations rolling out new collaboration tools faced elevated risk of credential theft and remote-access compromise.
• Law enforcement requested quick reporting to track campaigns, emphasizing that technical controls and user awareness had to adapt to the surge in pandemic-themed attacks.

Operator actions

• Deploy or tighten email authentication, sandboxing, and URL filtering tuned to COVID-19 lure keywords and newly registered domains.
• Conduct rapid user awareness reminders on verifying donation requests, avoiding unsolicited telework software offers, and reporting suspicious messages.
• Validate suppliers for personal protective equipment or remote-work hardware; require purchase orders and known contacts before payment.
• Log and monitor access to VPN and conferencing platforms for unusual geolocation or brute-force attempts.

Key sources

• FBI IC3 PSA (PSA200320) warns of COVID-19 fraud, phishing, and counterfeit goods schemes.
• Follow-on IC3 PSA on business email compromise risks (April 1, 2020) underscores the need for payment verification as scams escalated.