Within 24 hours of the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme being launched, online fraudsters had sent a flurry of phishing emails targeting unsuspecting businesses claiming to be from HMRC chief executive, Jim Harra.

The emails, attempting to get hold of the recipient’s banking details, state: “Dear customer, we wrote to you last week to help you prepare to make a claim through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. We are now writing to tell you how to access the COVID-19 relief. You will need to tell us which UK bank account you want the grant to be paid into, in order to ensure funds are paid as quickly as possible to you.”

Sadly, such attacks represent just a fraction of the dramatic rise in COVID-19-related cyber criminal activity.

GCHQ has now stepped in and is asking the public to report any suspicious emails they receive. Through its offshoot, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), it recently launched a suspicious email reporting service urging the public to forward any questionable emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. The NCSC’s automated scanning system will then check them, and immediately shut down and remove offending criminal sites.

Noel Guilford