It is an old trick, and one that scammers are once again using following massive lay-offs after the coronavirus outbreak and mandates to shelter from home. The trick is to impersonate an employer recruiting for jobs, or touting the ability to make lots of money while working from home. As the old adage says, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is.”

KrebsonSecurity reported this week that scammers using the name Vasty Health Care Foundation are double dipping, that is, not only recruiting employees, but also scamming people into giving money to a “foundation” dedicated to assisting victims of the coronavirus. It states that it is a not-for-profit organization located in Nebraska and Quebec. According to Krebs, almost the entire website of Vasty was “lifted” from globalgiving.org, which is a legitimate nonprofit organization. The scammers are posting job opportunities for globalgiving.org on Indeed and Monster.com, and when more savvy individuals call globalgiving.org to confirm the job opportunity, they are told that it is not legitimate and not to cash any checks from the fraudulent organization.

It is a sophisticated scheme, and one to which many are falling victim. To read more on Krebs’ account, click here.

Be aware that cyber criminals use times of crisis and vulnerability to attack victims. This is just one more way they are doing it in a time of increased layoffs.

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