You know that scammers are not going to pass up the chance to trick people using the coronavirus (COVID) pandemic. Expect lots more fake and phishing emails for some time to come leveraging this story and playing on people's fears.
Texts are going out also with false information, requests to get more information, and false claims that products address the corona-virus when they don't. Also fake texts and emails promoting things like surgical masks. DON'T REPLY TO THESE TEXTS OR EMAILS.
Emails are being sent that make it look like it's from some official health agency with an attachment, saying to click on the attachment to get more information on coronavirus. DON'T DO IT. Don't give up your private information to answer a questionnaire, take a quiz, or get access to additional virus information. DON'T DO IT.
We may even see, from an art perspective, and our VERY familiar fake buyer scam, mentions of the corona-virus may get incorporated into their scam email 'stories' as to why money needs to be wired to their shippers (fake). DON'T WIRE MONEY TO ANYONE if you are the seller. Don't accept over-payments, no matter what their story is. DON'T DO IT.
The pandemic is real and we must be safe and take care of each other... but not become susceptible to scammers leveraging this for own criminal activities.
Stay safe out there. And stay calm.
So glad you didn't fall for this and recognized this as a scam. This particular scam "story" has been in use for literally decades. And ironically, it hasn't changed much over the years. Sadly, this tells me it is still working for the scammers. But glad you were not one of them! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletethanks so much for this info! this blog is a real help to us artists!
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