The Department of Justice has cracked down on scams and false treatments for the coronavirus, having hampered “hundreds” of scams in cooperation with local law enforcement and various private companies.
A Justice Department press release on Wednesday noted that the department and its partners have “disrupted hundreds of internet domains used to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to commit fraud and other crimes.”
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement that “the department will continue to collaborate with our law enforcement and private sector partners to combat online COVID-19 related crime. We commend the responsible internet companies that are taking swift action to prevent their resources from being used to exploit this pandemic.”
The department also worked with the International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property program to help a state prosecutor in Brazil who “took down a fake site purporting to belong to a leading Brazilian brewery. The website publicized the distribution of free sanitizer, but in fact was infecting the computer systems of numerous Brazilian consumers with malware.”
“The FBI is proud to work alongside our federal law enforcement and private sector partners to protect the American public from COVID-19 related scams during these difficult times,” FBI Executive Assistant Director Terry Wade said in a statement. “We believe our collaborative efforts are the key to quickly reducing the threat from COVID-19 scams while allowing the American public to focus on protecting themselves and their families from this pandemic.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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