Coronavirus scammers will be prosecuted ASAP, U.S. attorney general says

Attorney General of the United States William P. Barr
(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images)

Attorney General of the United States William P. Barr has ordered federal prosecutors to throw the book at cybercriminals and fake-cure peddlers who are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis.

"There have been reports of individuals and businesses selling fake cures for COVID-19 online and engaging in other forms of fraud, reports of phishing emails from entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reports of malware being being inserted onto mobile apps designed to stop the spread of the virus," Barr wrote in an internal memo Wednesday (March 16). 

"The pandemic is dangerous enough without wrongdoers seeking to profit from public panic and this sort of conduct cannot be tolerated," Barr added. "Every U.S. Attorney's Office is thus hereby directed to prioritize the detection, investigation, and prosecution of all criminal conduct related to the current pandemic."

A copy of Barr's memo was obtained by Cyberscoop and posted online.

Malware and phishing scams related to the coronavirus pandemic first started appearing in late January as the virus began to break out of central China, and the fake-cure shillers started showing up soon afterwards. 

Televangelist Jim Bakker, infamous for an extramarital affair and subsequent fraud conviction in the 1980s, has been selling a potion made from silver that he said cures COVID-19. Fringe talk-show host Alex Jones has been promoting a silver-infused toothpaste at $15 a tube that he said "kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range."

More recently, Bitdefender reported yesterday (March 17) that several websites had popped up purporting to sell hand sanitizer, medical face masks, surgical gloves and digital thermometers, some in exchange for bitcoin. 

"Purchasing those medical supplies will likely result in receiving squat while giving away your credit card data," Bitdefender's Liviu Arsene wrote in a blog posting.

How to avoid coronavirus scams

To make sure you don't fall for any of these coronavirus scams, remember that there is so far no cure for the disease, and no way to prevent getting it other than by washing your hands and minimizing contact with other people. 

Medical supplies are indeed hard to come by, but there's no reason to believe that a website you've never heard of suddenly has a big stock of face masks and hand sanitizer

Don't believe postings about coronavirus cures and prevention that you see posted on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube, and definitely don't follow any links promising more information that appear on those postings. 

For reliable up-to-date information on coronavirus, go straight to the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO).

Don't give any money to coronavirus charities that solicit donations through email, social media or text message.

Don't believe emails you may receive that say they come from the CDC or WHO, and don't open attachments on emails that come from other health agencies or local authorities. 

Last but not least, install and run some of the best antivirus software on your PC, Mac or Android devices so that you're protected against digital contagions too.

Paul Wagenseil

Paul Wagenseil is a senior editor at Tom's Guide focused on security and privacy. He has also been a dishwasher, fry cook, long-haul driver, code monkey and video editor. He's been rooting around in the information-security space for more than 15 years at FoxNews.com, SecurityNewsDaily, TechNewsDaily and Tom's Guide, has presented talks at the ShmooCon, DerbyCon and BSides Las Vegas hacker conferences, shown up in random TV news spots and even moderated a panel discussion at the CEDIA home-technology conference. You can follow his rants on Twitter at @snd_wagenseil.

Latest in Wellness
Woman walking on the WalkingPad Z1
Quick! This popular WalkingPad treadmill is $96 off ahead of Amazon's Big Spring Sale
a photo of a woman out for a walk
Forget running — doing this one thing boosted the calorie burn on my daily walks
a runner at the 2007 Barkley Marathons event putting his head in his hand
The Barkley Marathons strikes again — with just 20 finishers in history, can anyone survive 2025?
Fitbit Versa 3
Fitbit just started testing its Personalized Sleep Schedule feature — here’s how to try it
Atari 2600 My Play Watch
It's not just Pebble — Atari is back with a watch that lets you play retro games on your wrist
Woman in studio on exercise mat performing the splits while leaning on elbows and smiling at camera
I tried a contortion workout class for the first time after seeing it on TikTok — here’s what happened
Latest in News
Nintendo Switch 2 promo image
Nintendo Switch 2 just tipped for three major upgrades — here's what we know
A still from "John Wick" spinoff "Ballerina" featuring Ana de Armas in a club
'John Wick' spinoff 'Ballerina' just got a new trailer — and I can't wait for it to hit theaters
Great Celebrity Bake Off 2025
How to watch ‘The Great Celebrity Bake Off' 2025 online – episode 1 streaming now
MacBook Pro 2023
New Mac attack is tricking users into thinking their computer is locked — how to stay safe
huawei pura x
This might be the most unique foldable phone design — and it's not from Samsung
Large group of protesters in Turkey following Instanbul mayor's arrest
Turkey sees huge VPN usage spike amid reports of social media crackdown