Why Are People Vulnerable to Coronavirus Loan Scams?
According to Get Safe Online CEO Tony Neate, “whenever there’s a crisis, you can be certain that there will be a rash of scams exploiting the situation. Sadly, coronavirus is no exception. We’ve heard about a number of scams, from fake news to people offering vaccines. It never fails to amaze me how low some people will sink to exploit innocent people’s uncertainty and misery.”
The loan scam is just another way for scammers to capitalize on people’s fear and financial distress.”Fear is elevating,” says Allen Spence, director of product leadership for identity monitoring service IDShield. More than that, people are using electronic means more than ever to pay for goods, work from home, contact banks or lenders etc. Social distancing rules “force us to interact more electronically,” Spence says.
People are also preoccupied with all sorts of things, from the news to Zoom calls, and concerns about homeschooling, making them more likely to open dangerous email attachments or visit suspicious websites. “There is an increased number of fake websites going up to try to collect information, specifically for the SBA loan,” Bagdasarian says.
“We have seen multiple phishing scams where attackers are sending false information about healthcare, sick leave, and HR policies and encouraging people to click on links in order to hijack their computers,” says Annie Klomhaus, COO of Yonder, an AI software company that identifies disinformation.
