Homeland Security Investigations shut down seven fake COVID-19 vaccine, pharmacy and other pandemic-related websites, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia reported March 26 that it seized four domains pretending to be legitimate websites of Pfizer. The government also seized three websites claiming to be associated with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund — or UNICEF.
All seven websites appear to have been created to extract information from users for malicious purposes, including phishing scams and fraud, according to a Justice Department news release.
"The online fraud and phishing schemes that were embedded within these seven sham websites sought to capitalize on the misfortunes of others during the global pandemic," said Raj Parekh, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to the news release. "We urge the public to safeguard your sensitive personal information at all times, including from these fraudulent COVID-19 schemes."