Cybercriminals using Israel-Hamas conflict to steal people’s money, warns Kaspersky

As if the Israel-Gaza conflict wasn’t enough, online hackers, cybercriminals and scammers are using the crisis to hoodwink unsuspecting people all over the world, suggests cybersecurity company Kaspersky. 

Also read: India’s cybersecurity crisis: Expensive breaches keep rising

We all know that social media is not a safe space and people being scammed has become more common than ever. Now cybercriminals have started to capitalise on sensitive events such as the Israel-Palestine conflict to make money.

How cybercriminals are scamming people during international conflicts?

What happens is that you get an email, Instagram or Facebook DM, text message, or even a WhatsApp message. The connotation of the message will be highly emotional so that they can strike a note with you. They will talk about what’s happening around them, what sort of situation they are in, and request for your help. For that, you just have to click on the link and make a donation.

You might end up clicking on the link and visiting the website to make a donation but instead you end up getting scammed. The websites that these links will take you to will resemble the ones of the official organisations, the only difference being that the transactions go to scammers.

Also read: Kaspersky, IIT Bombay partner to strengthen India’s cybersecurity power

Kaspersky, a cybersecurity company, has identfied this scam and found out more than 500 emails linked to this online menace. Kaspersky claims these targetted scam emails will be written in English. They will use sentences 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. to slip away from the spam filters. 

How can you protect yourself from these scams?

First and foremost, never click on any such links. If you want to make a donation, spend some time, research, and go directly to the official website instead of clicking on these links. Also, check if the organisation that you’re paying to is actually legitimate and is in some recognised database. Lastly, remember if someone has been affected they might not be in a position to find your contact details and send you a text. So stay vigilant and think long and hard before clicking on a link to donate for any online cause.