Google Says It Blocks 18 Million Coronavirus Scam Messages Every Day

Google has announced that it’s blocking a huge number of scam emails having to do the coronavirus and preventing them from getting to Gmail users every day. According to Google, it blocks 18 million hoax emails about COVID-19 from being sent to Gmail users every day. The pandemic has led to massive growth in phishing attacks since it began.

Over the last week, Google says that it blocked 100 million phishing emails each day, and nearly 1/5 of that number was related to the coronavirus. Many of the fake emails being sent attempt to impersonate authorities like the World Health Organization. Many of the emails have the goal of getting victims to download software or donate money reports BBC.

Some of the phishing emails are attempting to impersonate public institutions to capitalize on the desire for information and guidance on government support packages. Cybersecurity companies have also seeing significant growth in malicious emails during the pandemic. Barracuda Networks says that it has seen a 667 percent increase in malicious phishing emails during the pandemic.

The National Cyber Security Center and the US Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint advisory warning of “an increased number of malicious cyber-actors” that are currently exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic for their objectives. Security researchers warn that malicious actors tried to advantage of any situation to get their targets to perform the action they want.