If you're working from home or if you’re a student who is learning online, be on the lookout for COVID-19 cyber scams.

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a few bad actors are taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak and sending scam emails with pleas from false charities or sending emails with malicious attachments.

Other criminals are impersonating the World Health Organization. So just because COVID-19 is in the subject line doesn't necessarily mean you should automatically open that email without scrutinizing it first.

Todd Irey, IT Director at Legrand | AV has some advice to combat this threat.

“Remember the principles of the cyber-security training you’ve received,” says Irey. “If you receive any emails about COVID-19, stop and ask yourself, ‘Is this email from someone I know and trust?’”

Irey recommends looking at all links in the email. Are the links from the same domain as the email itself? If not, the email should be considered suspicious.

“Never click on a link that isn’t completely trustworthy,” said Irey “and use an extra dose of precaution with email attachments as well.”

CISA also asks the public to be wary of social media pleas, texts or calls related to COVID-19.

At Legrand | AV, we are dedicated to keeping people connected no matter where they are. If you have any videoconferencing, live streaming or connectivity questions, our solutions engineers are ready to help. Email us at av.solutions@legrand.com with the details of your project. For more of the latest COVID-19 information, please access the FAQs at www.legrandav.com/COVID.