If you’re working in a small business, like Cynch, you’re likely on the Internet much of the time nowadays looking for up-to-date information about the pandemic to understand the impact it will have on you as an individual, your team and your business.

Some things you may be trying to stay informed of may be:

• The impacts of this situation to your supply chain 🚚

• The impacts on your customers 🛒

• How to support your staff 👩‍💼

• How to access emergency small business relief funds 💸

• Tax relief from the ATO 🏦

• Sources of hard-to-come-by supplies 🧻

• Mandates from the government around lockdowns 🏠

• How to set up and start remote working 📶

• Discounted computer equipment 💻

• How to set up cloud applications like Zoom 📞

Fraudsters know that this is the type of information businesses are looking for as well and they’re looking for news headlines to use in their scam campaigns.

Just a few weeks in and we’re already seeing scam messages and fake websites catered for each of the scenarios above and more.

Cybercriminals are pretending to represent people of authority and impersonating Governments, Health organisations, Accountants and IT support providers. Their motivations may differ, but they do not discriminate against who their victims are. 

They are playing with human emotions to get you to feel something and do something.

• ANTICIPATION: Knowing that you will click on a link or open an attachment from someone of authority or known to you;

• TRUST: Using the website of a brand you know, to get you to enter your personal information, including your usernames, passwords;

• SADNESS: Playing on the kindness of people’s hearts to donate money to a fake charity and capturing your bank account details;

• FEAR: Fuelling fear and division in the community, invoking blame against certain races/religions and a belief that the world is falling through fake news.

Across the world, we’ve seen an extraordinary increase in the number of scams with a Coronavirus/COVID-19 theme to it.  10 times the average number of sites have appeared in recent weeks.  

Examples of COVID-19 and Coronavirus scams

It’s truly terrible to think that there are people out there trying to take advantage of the current situation we’re all in, but it’s important to be aware of what’s out there so you can act and protect your business.

Following are a few examples that we’ve seen that are specifically relevant to small businesses.

Fake relief fund websites

Fraudsters are watching the news like us, and as soon as a new scheme or a relief fund is made available they are looking for ways to scam people.

One example mimics the UK government relief fund and was phishing for sensitive information for unsuspecting visitors. It’s only a matter of time until we start to see similar attempts targeting stressed small business owners looking for similar information about government funding in Australia.

Tip: Be sure to only take the advice from official websites about relief funds. Eg. business.gov.au and aus.gov.au.

Fake websites selling cheap remote working technologies and products

You may be keen to grab a good deal on a laptop, headset or screen for your staff so they can work remotely.  There are a number of fake sites and deals showing up designed to trick you into paying for something that may or may not exist. 

One site that looks legitimate might actually have been setup to steal credit card details. Others may even send you the product, and then start using your card details months later.

There’s a lot of generosity and free trials out there, so it can be hard to work out what is genuine or not.

Tip: Try to only purchase your office equipment from reputable retail operators and look for reviews from trustworthy sources before you buy.

Fake Coronavirus testing kits for your office

You might be starting to think about testing your staff for coronavirus. Fraudsters are preying on people looking for some certainty or wanting to protect their loved ones and staff.

Tip: Check and follow official International and Local Health sites life the World Health Organisation for information on cures, home test kits, prevention kits etc.

New scams are showing up every day and the Australian Cyber Security Centre are posting new ones on their site as they’re identified here: https://www.cyber.gov.au/threats/threat-update-covid-19-malicious-cyber-activity-20-apr-2020.

We notify Cynch members of these as they appear but if you’re not a member it’s worth checking back on their site regularly for updates.

Give your team information about scams that they might see

There are a number of scams out there which you might want to ensure your staff are aware of such as:

• Fake home testing kits

• People going door-to-door offering to provide free tests

• Text messages from what looks like the government; asking you to follow a link

• Impersonation of NBN, Telstra, Optus and other telecoms providers and asking to give you remote access to your computer

• Scams offering to pay you for staying at home

• Text Messages from AusPost, requesting you to click a link to claim your a gift ‘someone’ has sent you

There are many things small businesses can do to protect themselves from COVID-19 scams. Follow the advice on our protect your small business from online scams page and sign up to our Cyber Fitness Program for guidance tailored to your business.