{"id":519,"date":"2020-04-21T12:12:07","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T11:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/?p=519"},"modified":"2020-04-21T12:26:17","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T11:26:17","slug":"stay-safe-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/stay-safe-out-there\/","title":{"rendered":"STAY SAFE OUT THERE!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cyberc<\/span>riminals view t<\/span>he Covid-19 Pandemic <\/span>as an Opportunity for Financial Gain!<\/span><\/h2>\n

As the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemi<\/span>c continues throughout the UK<\/span>,<\/span> the vast majority of us<\/span> <\/span>have pulled together, (figuratively speak<\/span>ing<\/span> of course!) and followed<\/span> Government advice to<\/span> stay at home<\/span> in <\/span>order to protect our NHS, as well as each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, <\/span>cybercr<\/span>iminals see opportunity for profit during these times of crisis, which is why it is very important for<\/span> businesses and the general public to be aware of the dangers<\/span> out there on the worldwide web!<\/span><\/p>\n

Towards the end of <\/span>March<\/span>, <\/span>London Police reported a 400% i<\/span>ncrease in scams as a result of C<\/span>oronavirus-related fraud<\/span>. 105 reports had also been<\/span> sent to Action Fraud, th<\/span>e UK\u2019s national reporting hub<\/span> for fraud and cybercrime, with total losses reachi<\/span>ng nearly \u00a3970,000!<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen man<\/span>y<\/span> examples<\/span> already, ranging from emails containing malicious<\/span> scams or malware <\/span>and those which direct <\/span>you<\/span> to phishing sites, to the numer<\/span>ous misinformation websites which<\/span> hav<\/span>e recently risen to the surface.<\/span>
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\"Top<\/p>\n

Phishing e<\/span>mails:<\/span><\/h3>\n

Below are a couple<\/span>\u00a0of examples of the various <\/span>email <\/span>scams we are aware of:<\/span><\/p>\n

Fake Lockdown F<\/span>ines<\/span> <\/span>– There have been numerous reports of emails containing false fines being sent out, which state the receiver has failed to follow Government advice to stay indoors and must pay a fine or receive a more severe penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n

HMRC Goodwill P<\/span>ayment<\/span> <\/span>\u2013<\/span> <\/span>Cybercriminals are also releasing emails targeting both businesses and the public, designed to steal your account details, for example: <\/span>\u2018As part of the NHS promise to battle the COV-19 virus, HMRC has issued a payment <\/span>of \u00a3258 as a goodwill payment\u2019.<\/span>
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\"Restore<\/p>\n

Misinformation w<\/span>ebsites:<\/span><\/h3>\n

As we mentioned previously, there has also been a huge increase in websites distributing false information, such as: <\/span> \u2018There is a new vacc<\/span>ine for Coronavirus\u2019 and \u2018T<\/span>he US government, like the Chinese government, isn\u2019t telling us the trut<\/span>h about how many are infected\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

These websites are typically riddled with <\/span>malicious <\/span>links that once clicked, can infect the user\u2019s computer with viruses or other harmful malware.<\/span>
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How do I stay safe out there<\/span> on the worldwide web<\/span>?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Typically, most phishing emails will contain errors, such as spelling mistakes or punctuation errors, <\/span>so be vigilant and read through the emails carefully before doing anything rash!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In addition, <\/span>as we mentioned in a previous <\/span>blog post<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, <\/span>we strongly recommend you<\/span> steer-clear from entering personal information, (especially bank details), on unfamiliar websites!<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, when online, especially social media, be aware that not everything you read is true! <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Facebook has<\/span> recently introduced a flagging system, which issues a warning to the user that the article they are reading contains fake news, but this will not stop the tons of misinformation websites getting through!<\/span><\/p>\n

If you would like to learn more about staying safe online, please feel free to contact us<\/strong><\/a>! <\/span><\/p>\n

Your online safety is of great importance to us and we are always willing to give quality advice and guidan<\/span>ce <\/span>for those in need,\u00a0<\/span>during these times of crisis!<\/span><\/p>\n

Stay safe out there folks!<\/span><\/p>\n

01444 238070<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cybercriminals view the Covid-19 Pandemic as an Opportunity for Financial Gain! As the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues throughout the UK, the vast majority of us have pulled together, (figuratively speaking of course!) and followed Government advice to stay at home in order to protect our NHS, as well as each other. However, cybercriminals see opportunity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":527,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cse-ltd.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}