As you probably know, the scammers of the world aren’t letting the current Covid pandemic go to waste.
I’ve already written several posts about various Coronavirus related scams that are making the rounds, and now there’s a new threat on the loose…
Malicious apps posing as legitimate pandemic-related apps.
There are a few Covid-19 related apps currently available for download in the official app stores, and while there are no guarantees, those apps are safe as far as I’ve been able to determine.
However, any such apps that are being distributed by third-party app download sites should be considered malicious, because most of them are.
Links to many of the malicious Covid-19 apps are being spread via email and SMS text messages as well as via instant messages and posts on various social media sites.
If you receive a message or see a post asking you to download a Covid-19 related app, don’t do it. Simply ignore the message and move on.
Should you slip up and fall for one of these scams and install a malicious app on your device you’ll be at high risk of having your personal and financial info, your emails and your text messages stolen by scammers who will then use the stolen info in a variety of malicious ways.
And perhaps even worse, some of the apps will even use your device’s camera and microphone to spy on you.
As you can see, these apps are bad news!
Bottom line: If you want to install a Covid-19 related app on your device, make sure you get one that was created by a government entity like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
And whatever you do, only download an app that’s available in your device’s official app store and avoid the ones you read about on social media or in an instant message, an SMS text message or an email like the plague!