Monkeypox phishing scams seeing sharp rise

June 24– Across the globe, epidemiologists are tracking and investigating the Monkeypox outbreak. In the course of epidemiological investigations, “disease detectives” are known to reach out to individuals by phone or email, but cyber scammers are taking advantage of the trend in order to phish consumers.

Monkeypox phishing emails

Attackers have been observed sending Monkeypox-related phishing emails to employees. For example, some employees have reported emails with fake ‘mandatory Monkeypox safety awareness training’ information. In this campaign, email recipients are asked to click on a link to complete the training, which is supposedly a part of a new company policy.

Preventing phishing

The Monkeypox phishing scheme highlights how cyber criminals will exploit fear and uncertainty in order to obtain credentials, access systems or steal financial information.

To avoid these types of threats, organizations must ensure that adequate cyber security is in place. Cyber security awareness training needs to occur on a regular basis. Employees need to understand the danger associated with clicking on risky links and downloading attachments.

Get phishing resources

Discover helpful phishing resources that can inform your employee education initiatives.

For more information on phishing prevention, see CyberTalk.org’s past coverage or discover phishing insights in CyberTalk.org’s whitepaper collection.

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