By Liam Frost
2 min read
Fake emails are trying to ride on the coronavirus crisis and convince people to part with their Bitcoin. Under the guise of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, these emails are enticing people to donate their Bitcoin to help fight the coronavirus.
“Don't donate Bitcoin to crooks... Send the money to the real deal,” said Chester Wisniewski, a researcher from cybersecurity firm Sophos, who posted a screenshot of the email.
The fake email claims funds will be used to “enable all countries to track and detect the disease...send personal protective equipment to frontline health workers...enable communities to prevent infection and care for those in need...and accelerate efforts to fast-track the development of lifesaving vaccines.”
The real WHO has organized the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to raise money to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. It is accepting donations on the organization’s official page—though only in fiat money, currently. According to the plan, there is an immediate funding need of at least $675 million by the end of April 2020. Facebook and Google have already supported the fund.
As Decrypt reported earlier, there are an increasing number of scams latching onto the coronavirus. One of the latest examples is "COVID19 Tracker," a phony coronavirus tracking app that will expose your social media accounts and delete all your phone's storage unless you cough up $100 in Bitcoin. A coronavirus map provides live updates of the spreading pandemic—while infecting your computer with, ironically, a virus.
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