Israel - Hamas clash: Beware of misleading emails and unwanted websites.

November 3, 2023

Kaspersky said it has identified a fraud campaign that exploits the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Attackers are trying to exploit people's willingness to help those affected by the conflict by distorting human kindness and trying to convince potential victims to make donations that ultimately result in fraud and the loss of their money.

To date, cybercriminals have sent over 500 such emails and have created fraudulent websites to speed up the money transfer process. Kaspersky urges users to maintain a high degree of vigilance and take proactive measures to control the recipients of their donations.

Fake charity scams often occur, taking advantage of real disasters or emergencies. Unfortunately, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is no exception. Kaspersky experts have noticed an increase in malicious emails that are in English and ask for donations for affected individuals in the conflict.

Attackers use sophisticated social engineering techniques to gain people's trust and invite them to click on a scam website link where they are asked to contribute. These misleading emails come from a variety of addresses.

In these emails, scammers try to avoid spam filters by creating multiple versions of the text. For example, they use various phrases such as "we appeal to your compassion and kindness" or "we appeal to your empathy and generosity" and replace words such as "help" with synonyms such as "support", "assistance", etc.

In addition, they make changes to links and sender addresses. Andrey Kovtun, a security specialist at Kaspersky, says that strong digital security solutions can protect against these insidious forms of attack.

The links contained in the above messages lead recipients to scam websites. On these sites, information about the conflict is presented, photos are displayed and users are invited to make donations. The scammers facilitate the money transfer process by offering a variety of transaction options with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and Litecoin.

Using wallet addresses, Kaspersky researchers have discovered other fraudulent websites claiming to collect aid for various other groups affected by the conflicts in the region.

Unfortunately, these scams can grow quickly, with changes in their design and by targeting different groups. To guard against these scams, you need to be careful when checking sites before making donations. The scams usually lack basic information about the charity organizers, recipients, legal documents or are not transparent about the use of the money. Here are some security measures we suggest you take:

Check the charity's website and credentials. Legitimate charities will have a registered identity - confirm an organisation's authenticity on a known database.
Contact charities directly for donations or support. To donate online, enter the organisation's website address instead of clicking on a link.
If you are not sure about the organisations you have checked, look to well-known organisations that provide humanitarian support, such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
Remember that people affected by the crisis will not usually contact you directly for money, especially if you do not know them. Be especially careful with requests to send money.
Stay alert. Fake websites can look almost identical to genuine charity websites, with the only difference being the donation details. Often, spelling or grammatical errors can be a sign of fake pages.

Be careful on social media. Social media is a useful way for charities to communicate with the public and ask for donations. However, don't automatically assume that a donation request on social media is legitimate just because a friend liked or shared it. Take the time to research the organization before making a donation.