DOJ Announces Disruption of HUNDREDS of Online Coronavirus Related Scams

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Federal authorities announced today that an ongoing cooperative effort between law enforcement and a number of private-sector companies, including multiple internet domain providers and registrars, has disrupted hundreds of internet domains used to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes.

As of April 21, 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received and reviewed more than 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams, many of which operated from websites that advertised fake vaccines and cures, operated fraudulent charity drives, delivered malware, or hosted various other types of scams.  To attract traffic, these websites often utilized domain names that contained words such as “covid19,” or “coronavirus.”  In some cases, the fraudulent sites purported to be run by, or affiliated with, public health organizations or agencies.

For example, the cooperative effort has disrupted:

  • An illicit website pretending to solicit and collect donations to the American Red Cross for COVID-19 relief efforts.
     
  • Fraudulent websites that spoofed government programs and organizations to trick American citizens into entering personally identifiable information, including banking details.
     
  • Websites of legitimate companies and services that were used to facilitate the distribution or control of malicious software.

Multiple federal agencies have worked to analyze the complaints, investigate ongoing fraud, phishing, or malware schemes, and assemble vetted referrals.  Agencies have sent hundreds of these referrals  to the private-sector companies managing or hosting the domains.  Many of those companies, in turn, have taken down the domains after concluding that they violated their abuse policies and terms of service, without requiring legal process.  Domain registrars and registries have advised the department that they have established teams to review their domains for COVID-19 related fraud and malicious activity.  Cybersecurity researchers have also made important contributions by developing sophisticated tools to identify malicious domains and refer them for mitigation.  Law enforcement is actively reviewing leads, including those referred by private firms, to verify unlawful activity and quickly pursue methods for disruption. 

As a further example, shortly after the IRS notified the public of web links to apply for the COVID-19 related stimulus payments, the FBI identified a number of look-alike IRS stimulus payment domains.  These look-alike domains are often indicative of future phishing schemes and in order to minimize the potentialfraudulent use of the these domains, the FBI alerted numerous domain registries and registrars to the existence of these look-alike URLs.
 
“The department will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement and private sector partners to combat online COVID-19 related crime,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  “We commend the responsible internet companies that are taking swift action to prevent their resources from being used to exploit this pandemic.”
 
“Working alongside our law enforcement partners and the private industry, the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch is taking action against all manner of COVID-19 consumer scams,” said Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “Disrupting Internet-based fraud schemes is an important part of our effort to protect consumers from financial loss and health-related harms.”
 
“The FBI is proud to work alongside our federal law enforcement and private sector partners to protect the American public from COVID-19 related scams during these difficult times,” said FBI Executive Assistant Director Terry Wade.  “We believe our collaborative efforts are the key to quickly reducing the threat from COVID-19 scams while allowing the American public to focus on protecting themselves and their families from this pandemic.”
 
“Keeping pace with the growing threat of cyber-enabled COVID-19 scams requires an alliance between the private sector and our law enforcement partners to safeguard our Nation from this sort of nefarious conduct,” said Director James M. Murray of the U.S. Secret Service.  “The Secret Service is thankful for these trusted partnerships which demonstrate a proven model for identifying, investigating and prosecuting these criminals.”

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