Google has stated that nearly a fifth of all phishing email messages that have been identified on its Gmail platform feature COVID-19 as part of their content, using the pandemic to lure victims into malicious links and attachments. The giant stated that last week, they saw roughly 18 million email messages rejected per day due to the fact that they were identified as phishing messages using COVID-19.
These messages prey on fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, using financial incentives to create a sense of urgency and fraudulently claiming to be from credible sources. According to Google, the 18 million COVID-19 related phishing messages were in addition to more than 240 million COVID-19 spam messages send to Gmail accounts every day, getting blocked through Google’s spam filters.
Read More: COVID-Themed Phishing Messages Fill Phishing Filters on Gmail