Cleveland Police warn Hartlepool residents of increase in coronavirus web scams - here's how to stay safe

Action Fraud, the national cyber crime and reporting centre, has revealed that coronavirus scams have cost victims over £800,000 so far.

Since February 2020, there have been 21 reports of fraud nationally where coronavirus was mentioned.

Scams include fraudulent sellers advertising face masks, and one person lost £15,000 by ordering masks that did not arrive.

Action Fraud advises people not to click on links or attachments in suspicious emails.

Emails claiming to contain details of a cure for coronavirus have also been reported which in fact are designed to harvest people’s personal information.

Another recent scam emails refer to Covid-19 tax refunds featuring a link saying ‘access your funds now’.

Officials say it takes them to a fake government webpage where they are encouraged to input all their financial and tax information.

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“This is not how HMRC would advise you of a potential tax refund," said Carl Wearn, head of e-crime at Mimecast.

When shopping online, the advice is to be careful when buying from people you do not know. Use a credit card as most insure online purchases.

And make sure your devices have the latest software and app updates installed.

Get Safe Online CEO Tony Neate said: “Whenever there’s a crisis, you can be certain that there will be a rash of scams exploiting the situation. Sadly, Coronavirus is no exception.”

For more advice on how to avoid coronavirus scams visit Action Fraud’s website.

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