Beware Of Coronavirus App… FG Issues Warning On New Tactics Used By Scammers

The Federal Ministry of Information and Culture has warned Nigerans of the existence of Android-based malicious and fraudulent Coronavirus Ransomware Application. 

While the ransomeware application claims to provide updates on the virus and infections near the user, when downloaded it blocks access to users’ personal data and accounts on the user’s gadgets and threatens deletion unless One Hundred US Dollars ($100) in Bitcoin is paid within 48 hours.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the Ransomware Application detected on the website http://coronavirusapp.site, prompts users to download an Android App purportedly for coronavirus map tracking and heat map visuals.

The statement released by Lai Mohammed’s media aide, Segun Adeyemi reads; 

The FG has alerted Nigerians to the existence of an Android-based malicious and fraudulent Coronavirus Ransomware Application, which claims to provide updates on the virus and infections near the user.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the Ransomware blocks access to users’ personal data and accounts and threatens deletion, unless users pay One Hundred US Dollars ($100) in Bitcoin within 48 hours.

He said the Ransomware App, detected on the website http://coronavirusapp.site, prompts users to download an Android App purportedly for coronavirus map tracking and heat map visuals.

Alhaji Mohammed said the development confirms warnings against cyber criminals seeking to exploit the growing spread of the virus for nefarious gains.

He therefore called on the general public not to download the Ransomware App and to seek updates on the pandemic only from the appropriate authorities.