“The website was fraudulent and instead appears to have been used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the site, in order to use the information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks, and/or deployment of malware. Individuals visiting the site now will see a message that the site has been seized by the federal government and be redirected to another site for additional information,” the release said.
The website “usaregenermedicals.com” purported to sell REGEN-COV2, an antibody cocktail approved in November 2020 for emergency use in treating COVID-19. The approval came shortly after the medicine was successfully used to treat former US President Donald Trump.
An investigation by the Department of Homeland Security found that the website displayed the name, address, and trademarked logos for Regeneron, as well as links or buttons that also appear on the official Regeneron website. The links were not functional on the fake website, however, according to the statement.
The release noted that four other fake websites marketing COVID-19 related URLs were previously seized by the federal government.
