As the entire is world fighting against the novel Coronavirus Pandemic, the online scams and phishing attacks related to the COVID-19 have been on a rise in the last couple of weeks now. We recently saw how these malicious attempts were employed by using coronavirus maps and tracking apps for breaking into handheld devices as well as PCs. As such malicious attempts increase day-by-day, Google has decided to come to the forefront for sharing some very important information concerned with such scams. Google India Launches YouTube Learning Destination in Multiple Languages for Students, Teachers and Parents.

The company has revealed the number of phishing attacks or attempts made on its emailing service - Gmail every day. As per the company, Gmail blocks around 18 million coronavirus-related phishing emails daily. Apart from the phishing emails, the company claimed that the email service also blocks millions of spam messages related to the virus daily.

Phishing Emails Blocked By Gmail (Photo Credits: Google Blog)

Providing clarity for the users, Google went ahead and gave some examples of the phishing attacks. Both the emails featured 'fear' and 'financial incentives' for creating an urgency prompting users to respond to such emails. Interestingly, the list includes emails from impersonating bodies like WHO and other governmental agencies soliciting donations, government’s relief packages and other things.

Phishing Emails Blocked By Gmail (Photo Credits: Google Blog)
Phishing Emails Blocked By Gmail (Photo Credits: Google Blog)

The company confirmed that it had put proactive monitoring in place especially for phishing and scams related to COVID-19. The technology giant claimed that as soon as the threat is identified, it is added to the Safe Browsing API, which protects the users in Chrome, Gmail, and all other integrated products. Moreover, the G Suite users get advanced phishing and malware controls as default, ensuring proactive protection for all the users.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2020 12:28 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).