Gmail users have been alerted to fraudulent emails using the coronavirus pandemic to trick victims into releasing confidential details.
Google has revealed that more than 18 million Covid-19 related phishing and malware emails have been discovered in the past week.
Scammers have been tricking users into clicking on dangerous content linked to the pandemic, ExpressOnline reports.
Emails detected by Google include false WHO advice, false details about government cash packages, or false information needed to work from home.
(Image: Getty)
Gmail users are instructed to download malicious files, provide payments to scammers, or send confidential information.
In addition to these fraudulent emails, Google has revealed that more than 240 million Covid-19 spam messages are also being sent.
However, almost all of these have been blocked by the security measures of the technological giant.
Google has now described how scammers have been trying to trick Gmail users.
It said, “Every day, Gmail blocks more than 100 million phishing emails. Over the past week, we saw 18 million daily Covid-19 related malware and phishing emails.
“This is in addition to more than 240 million daily spam messages related to Covid.
“Our ML models have evolved to understand and filter these threats, and we continue to block more than 99.9 percent of spam, phishing, and malware from reaching our users.”
“The phishing attacks and scams we are seeing use both fear and financial incentives to create urgency to try to make users respond.”
Tips to stay safe from coronavirus scams
• Complete a verification to improve account security
• Avoid downloading unrecognized files; instead, use the Gmail built-in document preview
• Check the integrity of URLs before providing login credentials or clicking a link: Fake URLs generally mimic real URLs and include additional words or domains
• Avoid and report phishing emails
• Consider signing up for Google’s Advanced Protection Program (APP)
