Warning about donation scams for war victims in the Middle East

British cybersecurity firm Netcraft said it detected the transfer of more than $1.6 million in cryptocurrency to accounts linked to the scammers.

These criminal groups regularly solicit donations through emails, websites, social media, and fake phone calls. Donors are then asked to send money to a list of Bitcoin wallets. The criminals then use software to empty the victim’s wallet.

Back in March 2023, Netcraft reported on cryptocurrency withdrawal attacks and exploits of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US. Cybercriminals operated a series of websites using the above fake bank domains, claiming to offer assistance to all SVB customers. Instead, they were defrauded and their assets were stolen.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Federal Trade Commission have also warned about donation scams related to the conflict in Gaza.

Cybersecurity firm Group-IB told the Straits Times that cyber fraud has mushroomed amid major conflicts, creating an environment where scammers manipulate people psychologically by faking information or situations that are extremely dangerous.

Vladimir Kalugin, Group-IB's director of digital risk protection, said he had caught the traces of suspicious websites that were exploiting the conflict to solicit donations.

Some websites call on people to donate to charity to buy food, medicine… and accept payment in cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer direct money transfers or transfers through donation platforms.

Another type of scam website offers to buy souvenirs and promises to transfer the proceeds to humanitarian causes, Mr. Kalugin added.

In Singapore, the Singapore Cyber ​​Emergency Response Team warned in March 2022 of an increase in asset fraud cases linked to the war in Ukraine. Fraudsters have used spam containing data-stealing malware to steal money.

Mr. Kalugin said donors can check the authenticity of a charity by looking at the date its website was founded through Whois. Whois is a tool used to query databases that store information about registered users or assignees of Internet resources.

“Scammers quickly create multiple sites to exploit a particular trending topic, so a recently created source should be viewed with caution,” he said.

In general, donation scams target a broad audience and are not focused on a specific geographic area.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) notes that cybercriminals are opportunists and will seek to exploit any crisis for financial gain.

Therefore, philanthropists should contact reputable and widely-active charities directly.