All you populace out in UK, please be aware that some online fraudsters are launching phishing email attacks in the name of NHS distributing free PCR testing kits to detect the latest Omicron Corona Virus variant.
Which? a data advocacy group discovered the attack and alerted all online users that they should not believe the latest email campaign that claims to be backed by NHS.
According to the data privacy group of UK, the phishing campaign is spreading in two email forms.
First email which seems to be legitimate is being distributed with ‘NHS Customer Service’ in the subject-line and has an email address that looks authentic, but is actually fake and impersonating. This email claims that interested candidates can purchase the kit and can get them by paying a small amount for shipping in digital mode. It also urges the customer to click on a malicious link that instead leads them to a malware harvested page.
The second email is different and directly asks the recipient to enter details such as full name, DoB, address, mobile number, email address and mother’s maiden name to mail them the Omicron COVID-19 testing kit. And if/when the recipient enters such details, the scammers can use such info to launch identity theft based cyber attacks.
Which? is urging customers to report suspicious emails to the National Cyber Security Center’s malicious email reporting service that keeps a track of such info and shares them with intelligence agencies and threat reporting firms.
Email service providers such as Gmail are already doing their best in identifying Corona virus themed spam and suspicious emails and blocking them from reaching the inboxes of innocent recipients.
Concurrently, even the email recipients should stay cautious while clicking on the emails sent by unknown senders or those looking suspicious via subject-line. At the same time, they should avoid clicking on malicious links and instead mark them as spam and, if possible, report to the law enforcement.
