Fraudsters and hackers are preying on COVID-19 vaccine shortage anxiety with escalating scams and attacks, reports say. As patients across the U.S. compete to book appointments online for COVID-19 vaccines, cybercriminals are tapping into the anxiety by escalating attacks and scams. Reports issued this week by security vendors Imperva, Barracuda Networks and Kaspersky spotlight some of the latest threats and schemes. Those include: botnet attacks, which potentially are contributing to vaccine appointment website crashes; a rise in phishing scams promising access to vaccines; and dubious vaccines being offered for sale on the darknet. Government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, also have been warning the American public about criminal scams looking to profit on COVID-19 angst.