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Law360 (March 18, 2020, 7:44 PM EDT ) U.S. Attorney's Offices are working to combat scammers taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic by coordinating with state law enforcement and launching hotlines and education campaigns after a directive from the attorney general to make COVID-19-related fraud a priority, according to announcements this week.
U.S. Attorney's Offices in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Pennsylvania announced they will be on high alert for fraudulent efforts to capitalize on the fear of the virus after Attorney General William Barr called on them to stay aware of pandemic-driven fraud.
"The pandemic is dangerous enough without wrongdoers seeking to profit from public panic and this sort of conduct cannot be tolerated," Barr said in a memo sent to the offices on Monday. "Every U.S. Attorney's Office is thus hereby directed to prioritize the detection, investigation and prosecution of all criminal conduct related to the current pandemic."
On Tuesday, Scott W. Brady, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, announced that he had appointed a COVID-19 fraud coordinator.
U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia followed suit on Wednesday, also launching a hotline for victims of suspected pandemic fraud in coordination with D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine.
U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a public bulletin on Wednesday listing potential scams, including fraudsters shilling shares in small companies that purport to have developed a product that will help during the crisis.
Prosecutors are also on watch for such coronavirus scams as fake cures and online shops pretending to sell masks and other high-demand items, as well as apps that claim to track the spread of the disease but infect the user's device with malware, according to the announcement.
Other common types of fraud that have mutated to adopt a coronavirus theme are phone scams purporting to need payment of a bill for a loved one's virus treatment, fake charities and email phishing attempts purporting to be from health authorities.
"As our communities take important steps to limit the spread of COVID-19, we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to guard against fraudulent pandemic profiteers, as well as to ensure the rule of law and public safety is not eroded during this critical time," Terwilliger said.
--Editing by Michael Watanabe.
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