Tech Republic – “In a news release published Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland revealed that it had seized a website called freevaccinecovax.org. Allegedly the site of a real biotechnology firm developing a COVID-19 vaccine, it was actually set up to collect personal data from visitors and use that information for fraud, phishing attacks and malware. Anyone who now browses to the site will see a message that the domain name has been seized in accordance with a warrant. When the site was up and running, its homepage displayed logos for Pfizer, the World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, all in an attempt to appear legitimate. To reel in users, the site included a menu to select your city and an Apply button that would download a PDF to your computer. You’d be encouraged to fill out the PDF and then upload it back to the site, allowing the criminals behind this attack to capture your personal data. Based on analysis by Homeland Security Investigations, the domain name was registered on April 27, 2021, using an IP address in Strasbourg, France, though the listed registrant country was Russia. By seizing the site, the state of Maryland not only prevents people from accessing it but stops third parties from taking over the domain name and using it to commit other crimes…”