Cyber-criminals are exploiting the crisis in Ukraine by impersonating legitimate aid organizations to scam people out of their financial donations, a recent report by managed detection and response provider, Expel, has revealed.
The Expel team analyzed various attack vectors and incident trends in their February Attack Vectors Threat Report and discovered a disturbing trend of phishing emails using the Ukraine invasion as a means to target cryptocurrency donations.
These malicious emails, with subject lines like “Help save children in Ukraine,” “Ukraine Donations,” and “Help – Bitcoin,” are designed to tug at the heartstrings of recipients. One particularly egregious example involved impersonating a doctor named Aronov Maxim from Smile Children’s Hospital in Ukraine. The email claimed that the hospital had been destroyed due to the Russian invasion and urged recipients to donate cryptocurrency to help the sick and wounded children.
Jon Hencinski, the director of global operations at Expel, condemned these scams, emphasizing the importance of verifying donations to ensure they reach legitimate organizations. He advised potential donors to double-check public wallet addresses and transaction histories before sending any funds, using blockchain explorer sites like blockchain.com and Polkascan for verification.
Hencinski also cautioned against public addresses with minimal transaction history and low balances, urging donors to conduct a quick internet search of the public address before making a donation. He highlighted the official cryptocurrency wallet addresses shared by the Ukraine government on their verified Twitter account, noting the substantial number of transactions recorded for each address as a sign of legitimacy.
In light of these fraudulent schemes, it is crucial for individuals looking to support Ukraine to exercise caution and due diligence when making donations. By staying vigilant and taking the necessary steps to verify the legitimacy of donation requests, the public can help ensure that their contributions truly benefit those in need during this challenging time.