Governors and other politicians have been taking advantage of the Coronavirus lockdown to exert the control they so desire over the population. As we have seen, much of their reasoning for doing this has been proven wrong, and the reasons to open the economy appear to be growing stronger by the day.
But it isn’t just overbearing governments that can benefit from a scare like the Coronavirus pandemic. Criminals, eager to exploit the fears of the unwary have also been on the move. As of now, the Dept. of Justice has shut down hundreds of Coronavirus scammers.
These include false treatments for the virus. On the 22nd of April, the DOJ released a report explaining that they intervened in order to shutter Coronavirus scams under the following circumstances:
- Illicit website feigning solicitation and collection of donations for the American Red Cross to be used in COVID-19 relief efforts.
- Fallacious websites that mimicked government programs to trick citizens into entering personal information, such as banking details.
- Legitimate companies and services that had their websites used to distribute or control of malicious software.
The DOJ writes, “As of April 21, 2020, the FBI has received and reviewed over 3,600 complaints related to COVID-19 scams. These websites utilized domain names containing words like “covid19,” or “coronavirus.” The fraudulent sites purported to be run by, or affiliated with, public health organizations or agencies in many cases.”
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski delivered a statement that said, in part, “… the DOJ will continue to collaborate with law enforcement and private sector partners to combat COVID-19 related cybercrime. We commend cooperating companies for taking action to prevent their online resources from being used to exploit citizens during this pandemic.”
The DOJ also worked with the International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property initiative to help a Brazilian prosecutor to “take down a counterfeit site falsely claiming to belong to a leading Brazilian brewery. The website promised to distribute free sanitizer while infecting Brazilian computer systems with malware.”
FBI Executive Assistant Director Terry Wade said, “The FBI is proud to work with federal and private partners to protect the Americans from COVID-19 related scams. We believe our efforts are key to reducing the threat from such scams, allowing the public to focus on protecting their families from infection.”
In related news, the President is now asking whether it is in the interest of the American people to bail out Democrat states that have fallen on hard times due to poor management.
“Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as an example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?” he tweeted.
Nanci Pelosi responded by telling reporters, “There will be a bill, and it will be expensive.”
Trump’s tweet reflects growing skepticism among voters of the motivations and the qualifications of Democrat leaders.
Featured Image by U.S. Department of Justice
I am really makes me mad- w/the scammers pray on these elderly people or anyone else! So Sad Or these roll-bow callers- It really needs to be Nip-In-The-BUD- – -ASAP…
Well, DOJ will have their hands full. Everything outside of the virus itself is a scan.
What really burns me butt is various companies using the telephone to sell good and products. A company wanting to sale something, located in TX, but uses local telephone number to contact prospective customers. I have received telephone calls, using caller ID of friends and family, from companies selling things from another State, or even within the State, but not local. The other day, for example, I received a call from and insurance company that was using one of our friends telephone number. I called the number of my friend and inquired why the call, he had no knowledge of it. I have had people calling me, asking who I was and why I was calling them, when it was impossible for either my wife or I to use our telephone, as we were out of town. I sure do wish the FCC or DOJ would do something about this.