Scammers exploit Hamas-Israel war
by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG – CYBER criminals are exploiting the Israeli-Hamas conflict to scam members of the humanitarian community.
Kaspersky has revealed the scam campaign capitalising on people’s willingness to aid those impacted by the conflict.
Scammers deceive potential victims into making donations, ultimately leading to the theft of their money.
To date, cybercriminals have disseminated over 500 scam emails and created fraudulent websites to expedite the money transfer process.
Kaspersky experts observed a surge in scam emails written in the English language, falsely seeking donations for those affected by the conflict.
Attackers use advanced social engineering techniques to exploit people’s desire to help and their compassion, trying to lure potential victims into making fake donations to steal money.
Scammers impersonate charitable organisations and use emotional language to entice users to click on a scam website link, where they are prompted to contribute. These deceptive emails come from various addresses.
“In these emails, scammers try to create multiple text variations to evade spam filters,” said Andrey Kovtun, a security expert at Kaspersky.
“For instance, they use various call-to-donate phrases like ‘we call to your compassion and benevolence’ or ‘we call to your empathy and generosity,’ and substitute words like ‘help’ with synonyms such as ‘support,’ ‘aid,’ etc.”
Besides, scammers alter links and sender addresses.
The links used in the emails lead to a scam website. This website provides users with context about the conflict, displays photos, and encourages them to make donations.
Fraudsters facilitate easy money transfers, offering options for various cryptocurrency transactions – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and Litecoin.
Kaspersky has as such urged users to remain vigilant and take proactive steps to verify the recipients of their donations.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel escalated in October. Thousands have been killed.
– CAJ News
