NEIGHBOURHOOD watch in Cumbria have been made aware of a number of new scams exploiting peoples fear over the Corona virus.

The scams take several forms which include (so far):

- Individuals in some areas, posing as Medical Staff conducting Covid-19 tests in your home.

- Messages claiming to be from HMRC offering a tax refund due to changes in the law around Covid-19, recipients have to click a link which takes them to a fraudulent website

- Messages claiming to be from the Centre for Disease Control or from the World Health Organisation. These messages offer the recipient the chance to view a list of confirmed cases within their local area by clicking on a link and making a Bitcoin payment.

- Emails claiming to be from a virologist sending an attached document with instructions on how to avoid the Coronavirus. The attachment is malicious.

- Fraudulent online sales of masks and hand sanitiser which never materialise. If an online shopping offer looks too good to be true, then it probably is.

Advice given is to not allow anyone into your homes to conduct tests, not to click on links or open attachments and take time to check that the email is from a legitimate source.

Be aware that fraudsters will go to great lengths to make their communications with you look genuine.