Security News > 2021 > December > Phishing actors start exploiting the Omicron COVID-19 variant
Phishing actors have quickly started to exploit the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant and now use it as a lure in their malicious email campaigns.
Threat actors are quick to adjust to the latest trends and hot topics, and increasing people's fears is an excellent way to cause people to rush to open an email without first thinking it through.
In this case, the Omicron variant is an emerging strain of COVID-19 that has scientists concerned over its high transmissibility and the potential ineffectiveness of existing vaccines against its mutations.
A phishing campaign targeting the UK. UK's consumer protection organization 'Which?' published two samples of new phishing emails pretending to be from the United Kingdom's National Health Service warning about the new Omicron variant.
These emails offer recipients a free Omicron PCR test that will allegedly help them get around restrictions.
If the recipient clicks on the embedded "Get it now" button or taps on the URL in the email body, they are taken to a fake NHS website claiming to offer the "COVID-19 Omicron PCR test."