Justice Dep’t tackles coronavirus scam site, first of probably many

Enlarge / Fraudulent websites never actually look like this, really, but if you come across one that does, maybe don't put in your credit card information. (credit: boonchai wedmakawand | Getty Images )

The US Department of Justice is keeping busy during the coronavirus crisis: the agency has filed its first-but unfortunately, almost certainly not last-suit to take down a fraudulent scheme allegedly trying to profit off Americans' fears about the virus.

The DOJ said late Sunday that it filed suit in Austin against the operators of website coronavirusmedicalkit.com and issuing a restraining order requiring the registrar to block access to it. (As of this writing the site is indeed offline.)

The site operators were engaging in a "predatory wire fraud scheme," the suit (PDF) alleges. When it was online, the site claimed that the World Health Organization was offering free vaccine kits for COVID-19. All users had to do to get these "free" kits was enter their credit card information and pay $4.95 for shipping. The site also featured an image of Dr. Anthony Fauci-the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and current leading US expert in infections disease-to make itself look more official.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments