Several Indians could be targeted by phishing attack, warns govtÂ
New Delhi: At a time when the country is fighting against COVID-19, India’s official cybersecurity agency Cert-IN has warned malicious actors are planning a large scale phishing attack campaign against Indians.
The agency said the attacks might all be related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The agency said the attackers are expected to use malicious e-mails under the pretext of local authorities in charge of dispensing government-funded COVID-19 support initiatives.
"Such e-mails are designed to drive recipients towards fake websites where they are deceived into downloading malicious files or entering personal or financial information," the agency said in its advisory.
The agency said the phishing campaign is expected to be designed to impersonate government agencies, departments, and trade associations who have been tasked to oversee the disbursement of the government fiscal aid.
"The malicious actors are claiming to have 2 million individual/ citizen e-mail IDs and are planning to send emails with the subject: free COVID-19 testing for all residents of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad, inciting them to provide personal information," read the advisory.
Attention! It has come to our notice that a cyber attack is going to take place in major cities of India. Kindly refrain yourself from clicking on emails coming from ncov2019@gov.in with a subject line Free COVID-19 Testing. pic.twitter.com/RbZolCjLMW
— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) June 21, 2020
Meanwhile, State Bank of India on Sunday warned people about phishing attack and tweeted, "Attention! It has come to our notice that a cyber attack is going to take place in major cities of India. Kindly refrain yourself from clicking on emails coming from ncov2019@gov.in with a subject line Free COVID-19 Testing."
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