Scams to Watch For Around COVID-19

It’s No Secret Scammers Love A Good Crisis To Take Advantage Of

Over the past few months we’ve really noticed an influx of email scams in Australia; no doubt due to all of the disasters that have been occurring this year.

Scams you need to watch out for:

  • COVID-19 relief emails. These come in many forms. ‘ATO jobkeeper emails’, ‘government grants’ & ‘charity websites’ seem to be the biggest hitters.
  • Project quotation emails. We know that businesses have been struggling & so do the scammers. They’re targeting businesses in industries known to be affected with job proposals.
  • Post delivery emails. With so many workers operating from home or simply surviving off Job Keeper, people have been ordering a LOT of parcels to pass the time. Scammers love this.
  • Mask, sanitizer & product emails. Every scammer dream is to create a fake website supposedly supplying buyers in heat with necessities, taking their money, then disappearing. It’s happening!

So, what do these emails look like? We’ll most of the time they’re so obvious that we still don’t understand why they tried in the first place. However, this isn’t always the case. Take the following email:

Fake ATO emails to screenshot

How to spot the inconsistencies:

Now, this is a fairly good attempt by a scammer. The main issues to note are the following:

  • Identity – He claims to be from the ATO, but says “we have to lodge with the ATO”.
  • Title/reference changes – He says “ATO” in sections then “The ATO” in others.
  • Timing/dating – This email was received on 20/7/20, but claims that the recipient will receive payment on 20/7/20 after filling in details, etc.
  • Envelope Sender – The sender is “AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE (ATO) ”, we have high doubts that the ATO would send from that address.
  • TLD – The senders domain is also ‘.com’. A governmental body will always send from ‘.gov.au’ or at very least ‘.com.au’.

This is one of the more effective emails to affect Australians, so always be on the lookout! If you’re concerned for your business, see our Email Security page or contact us for more information.