02.03.2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and cyber fraud on the Internet

Friends, recently, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been written and talked about. Of course, the topic of coronavirus and the panic around the new virus interested unscrupulous people and cyber fraudsters on the Internet.

Coronavirus and COVID-19 Domain Names

Today, thousands of domain names are already registered that are associated with the words Coronavirus or COVID-19. Most of these domains are used to create online stores selling "effective" masks from coronavirus, tests for detecting the virus at home and vaccines for treatment and prevention. Of course, such sales announcements also appear on bulletin boards on the Web.

Another part of the domains is used by scammers for spam mailings, phishing, the spread of viruses and trojans. So, a big cyber attack was in Japan, where under the guise of important information from the authorities about the coronavirus Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the application there was a trojan that was downloaded to the victims' local machines.

Fakes and real facts about COVID-19

Another problem that is associated with the new virus is fakes about the coronavirus COVID-19. Here we must pay tribute to the Google search engine, which before the search results related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) displays links and tips taken from the authoritative website of the World Health Organization (WHO) - who.int.

The World Health Organization website has a useful section with myths and real facts about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). You can read all the myths and misconceptions on the WHO page, here are some fakes and real facts from WHO:

MYTH: The new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes
FACT: The new coronavirus CANNOT be transmitted through mosquito bites.

MYTH: Cold weather can kill the new coronavirus or other diseases.
FACT: Cold weather and snow CANNOT kill the new coronavirus.

MYTH: Cocaine helps protect against new coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
FACT: Cocaine intake does not help protect against infection with a new coronavirus and can be hazardous to health.
Cocaine is an addictive stimulant drug. Its use causes dangerous side effects and is harmful to health.

MYTH: Children's urine is a means of preventing new coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV).
FACT: Children's urine is NOT a means of preventing new coronavirus infection (2019-nCoV).
Urine does not kill viruses or bacteria. Urine may indeed contain small amounts of viral or bacterial material. Washing hands or wiping surfaces with baby urine will not protect against the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV). You should regularly treat your hands with an alcohol-based product or wash them with soap and water. For surface treatment use ordinary household disinfectants.

Is it true that electric hand dryers can destroy the 2019-nCoV virus?
Not. Hand dryers don't kill the 2019-nCoV virus. To prevent a new coronavirus infection, you must regularly treat your hands with an alcohol-containing antiseptic or wash them with soap and water. Washed hands should be thoroughly dried with paper towels or an electric dryer.

Does garlic protect against infection with the new coronavirus?
Garlic is a healthy product with certain antimicrobial properties. However, during the current outbreak there was no evidence of garlic intake as a means of preventing infection with the new coronavirus.

Are there any specific medicines to prevent or treat the new coronavirus?
To date, there is no specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
However, those infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms, and those with severe illness should receive optimized supportive care. Some specific treatments are under investigation, and will be tested through clinical trials. WHO is helping to accelerate research and development efforts with a range or partners.