The coronavirus crisis is a golden opportunity for cyber criminals looking to score a quick buck. In terms of Bitcoin email scams, it would appear that things are going from to worse in quick succession.
There are always people looking to capitalize on global events, either for better or worse.
Coronavirus Extortion Scams Continue
The coronavirus crisis forces a lot of people to stay home, making them potential victims for scams.
Especially email extortion schemes pertaining to Bitcoin are spiking in number.
Numerous governments are issuing warnings regarding the scams.
A lot of efforts leverage the coronavirus crisis to instill fear in recipients and extort them for Bitcoin in the process.
Not all of these efforts require victims to pay Bitcoin directly, however.
A lot of blackmailing and extortion efforts collect money the traditional way, whereas criminals try to then launder it through cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Interestingly enough, a lot of scammers claim they will infect people – and their families – with the coronavirus if a payment isn’t made.
How they would go about doing so exactly, is a very different matter altogether.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the number of scams will diminish in the coming weeks and months.