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Watch Out For Swine Flu Scams

Con artists quick to exploit new situation

April 29, 2009

• Did WHO Hype Swine Flu to Boost Drug Sales? • H1N1 Virus Still Infecting Pets, Domestic Animals • One Dose of Swine Flu Vaccine May Work for Kids, Study Finds • CDC: Flu Cases Drop For Seventh Straight Week • 800,000 Doses of Swine Flu Vaccine Recalled • CDC: Swine Flu Cases Continue To Decrease • Swine Flu Claims Another Pet • Three More Cases Of Swine Flu In Pets • FDA Expands Approved Use Of Swine Flu Vaccines To Include Infants And Children • CDC Ups Swine Flu Death Estimate To 4,000 • Iowa Cat Diagnosed with Swine Flu • Swine Flu Vaccine Not Keeping Pace With Demand • Word Is Out On Unapproved Swine Flu Products • Swine Flu Virus Found In Pig Sample • FDA Warns Of Internet Sales Of Swine Flu Drug Products • Gauge Swine Flu Symptoms With Online Tool • H1N1 Flu Spreading Rapidly Through U.S. • Preparing For Flu Season • FDA Approves Vaccines For Swine Flu • Video: Swine Flu Vaccine Running Behind Schedule • New iPhone App Locates Swine Flu, Infectious Diseases • CDC Makes Recommendations For Use Of Swine Flu Vaccine • FDA Authorizes Emergency Use Of Another Test For Swine Flu Virus • Experts Worry About Return Of Swine Flu • CDC Finds Swine Flu Still Hanging Around • Swine Flu Officially a Pandemic • CDC: Swine Flu May Have Peaked • Older People Appear More Resistant To Swine Flu • Swine Flu Claims Sixth U.S. Victim • Poll Finds Americans Concerned About Swine Flu • CDC Sees 'Encouraging' Swine Flu Signs • Swine Flu Spreads, But Relatively Few Deaths Reported • What to Do If You Get Flu-Like Symptoms • Swine Flu a Potential Problem for Cruise Ships • Swine Flu Spreads, As Do Scams • Swine Flu Tips for Child Care Providers • More Warnings Against Swine Flu Scams • Can the Right Mask Prevent Swine Flu? • No Reason To Panic Over Swine Flu • Watch Out For Swine Flu Scams • Swine Flu: What You Need to Know • HHS Declares Public Health Emergency for Swine Flu

It didn’t take scammers long to latch on to the latest hot button topic to try and make a quick buck. Scams built around fears of swine flu are proliferating quickly across the Internet.

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued an alert this week, warning of a number of email scams related to the swine flu. The attacks arrive via an unsolicited email message typically containing a subject line related to the swine flu.

“These email messages may contain a link or an attachment. If users click on this link or open the attachment, they may be directed to a phishing website or exposed to malicious code,” the alert said.

US-CERT encourages users to take the following measures to protect themselves:

• Filter spam.
• Don’t trust unsolicited email.
• Treat email attachments with caution.
• Don’t click links in email messages.
• Install antivirus software and keep it up to date.
• Install a personal firewall and keep it up to date.
• Configure your email client for security.

To stay informed about swine flu, US_CERT says you should rely on trusted sources of information, such as the Centers for Disease Control .

Also, be highly skeptical of unknown Web sites with the words “swine flu” in the domain name.

Online security firm F-Secure reports dozens of new swine flu domain names were registered in the last few days, including swineflurelief.com and swineflureport.com. F-Secure said some of these sites are already offering ways to “protect your family from this crazy flu.”

Find out everything you need to know about swine flu.

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