Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the US government agency, has issued a notice on cybercrime occurring during COVID-19.
On July 30, FinCEN stated:
“Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic.”
The agency added:
“This advisory contains descriptions of COVID-19-related malicious cyber activity and scams, associated financial red flag indicators, and information on reporting suspicious activity.”
It has been reported that FinCEN’s advisory comes after a large-scale Twitter breach affected many top accounts, including Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates.
#FinCEN comes out with a fresh #Cybercrime advisory in light of #COVID-19, @benjaminpirus reports https://t.co/51Z3fCe4XM — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 30, 2020
However, cybercrime has been on the rise since COVID-19 preventive measures took flight in March, up 75%.
FinCEN said:
“This advisory is intended to aid financial institutions in detecting, preventing and reporting potential COVID19-related criminal activity.”
Thus, FinCEN added:
“This advisory is based on FinCEN’s analysis of COVID-19-related information obtained from Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data, open source reporting and law enforcement partners.”
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Live Science