A business and professional services consulting firm and global master servicing agent (MSA)
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
As Covid-19 spreads, stay properly informed, avoid panic and don’t fall victim to cyber-criminals
ICMS, Inc Reports
Public Advisory Comments
by Tom Okure, PhD
If you are concerned about Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic or perhaps
worried that you might have been exposed, please get yourself tested.
 |
| Be safe by wearing a face mask that covers your nose and mouth |
As the virus spreads and more reports of infections are reported near
you, try staying calm and avoid panic. Panic is extremely harmful and dangerous
especially when combined with fake news and misinformation floating around in
the internet. Be careful of self-diagnosing yourself and administering
unsupervised and unproven medications and homemade remedies.
In many African countries including Nigeria, misinformation is fueling panic
in many communities and leading people to take inappropriate or dangerous self-healing
actions.
As rumors of the drug Chloroquine as an effective drug being tested
against the corona virus is circulating in the internet, we are hearing of people increasingly overdosing with
the drug and coming down with chloroquine toxicity as the pandemic takes root.
This writer advises people not to be afraid and panic as the disease
looms larger. Try and educate yourself about the disease and adhere to preventive
information released by reliable government agencies and the world health
organization (WHO).
Be careful not to
fall victim to cyber-criminals that are capitalizing on the COVID-19 pandemic
to defraud, steal sensitive information or gain unauthorized access to computers
and mobile phones of innocent citizens employing different techniques. The
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Director, Corporate Communications
recently warned that cyber-criminals are sending out emails claiming to be from
health organizations such as Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) or
World Health Organization (WHO). He warned that people should be careful, as such
email may contain a link which if clicked on steals login credentials or other
confidential information from the victim’s computer or mobile device. Nigeria is not alone in experiencing a surge in COVID-19
related cyber-criminal activities. News being reported from all over the world indicates that everyone should be on the alert and aware
of this ongoing trend and not fall victim to cyber-criminals.
Conclusion
Remember that other epidemic diseases in the past have ravaged the world
and resulted in more people dying and dead. One of the unique feature of the
new COVID-19 pandemic that has made it gain international notoriety is the
highly infectious nature of the virus that blossomed to a world pandemic.
Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize that for a majority of infected
people, the Covid-19 virus will cause only moderate and minor symptoms which
includes high fever and cough that will end in about two to three weeks. The
virus does not discriminate and has affected all races, socioeconomic classes
of people over the world. Stay safe by observing social (physical) distancing and wearing a mask when you decide to go outside to exercise or to shop for food essentials.
___________________
All rights reserved by Tom Okure, Ph.D President and CEO of Inter-Continental Mgt. Systems, Inc (or ICMS, Inc). The information included in this article may not be used, reproduced, transmitted, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written permission of ICMS, Inc. The author Dr. Tom Okure is President of ICMS, Inc, a multifaceted business and management consulting firm with its head office in Albany, New York. Dr. Okure is a writer, author, business/management consultant, public policy advisor and commentator and a change advocate.
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