Kaspersky has uncovered a scam that exploits the Palestinian conflict and people's desire to help those affected by the conflict to deceive potential victims. Cybercriminals trick victims into thinking they are collecting donations to steal their money. To date, criminals have posted more than 500 fraudulent emails and created fraudulent websites to speed up the money transfer process. Therefore, Kaspersky urges users to be careful and take precautions to verify the authenticity of donation recipients.
Fraudulent or fraudulent charitable donations occur from time to time, and real disasters or emergencies are often used to lure victims. Unfortunately, the Palestinian conflict is one of these cases of exploitation. Kaspersky experts have noticed a significant increase in the number of fraudulent emails in English that trick users into making donations that victims believe have been sent to those affected by the conflict. Kaspersky Security detected more than 540 such emails.
To exploit people's compassion for those affected and their desire to help, scammers use advanced social engineering techniques to try to trick victims into making fake donations. Scammers pose as charities and use emotive language to trick users into clicking on links to fraudulent websites asking them to donate. It should be noted that these fraudulent emails come from different addresses.
“Fraudsters are trying to write different versions of the text in these emails to bypass spam filters,” said Andrei Kovtun, a security expert at Kaspersky. For example, they use different expressions to encourage donations, such as: “We ask for your sympathy and benevolence” or “We ask for your kindness and generosity,” and replace words like “help” with synonyms like “support.” "Help", etc. They also often change the link and return address. However, strong cybersecurity solutions can prevent these behaviors.
The messages included links to a fraudulent website that gave a simple explanation of the conflict, displayed photos and asked users to donate. Scammers facilitate money transfers by offering payment options in various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Litecoin.
In addition, Kaspersky experts discovered other fraudulent sites using the same wallet addresses as the scammers, and claiming to collect aid funds for various groups in conflict areas.
Tips from Kaspersky experts to avoid these scams:
Unfortunately, these scam sites can multiply quickly and appear in different designs to attract different audiences. Therefore, it is best to review the donation page carefully before transferring money. To avoid fraud. Fake websites often lack basic information about the charity's organizers, beneficiaries, legal documents, or how donations will be used. You must implement the following security measures; To avoid these actions:
- Visit the charity's website and review the information. All non-profit organizations are registered. You can check additional information about the organization by searching known databases.
- Contact the charity you would like to donate to or support directly. To donate online, manually enter the charity's website address rather than clicking on the link.
- If you're not sure which organization to check, trust reputable organizations that provide humanitarian assistance, such as UN relief agencies.
- Remember that affected people are unlikely to ask you for help directly, especially if they are strangers. So remember to be careful about such requests.
- Carefully. Fake websites can look almost like real charity websites, and the only difference between them may be the presence or absence of information about the purpose of the donation. Spelling or grammatical errors found on websites usually indicate that they are fake.
- Be careful when donating through social media platforms, as they are a useful way for charities to raise funds. But don't assume that a donation request on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or YouTube is legitimate just because one of your friends likes or shares it. Please take the time to research the organization before donating through them.
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