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The Edge DR Tech Sections Close Back Sections Featured Sections The Edge Dark Reading Technology Attacks / Breaches Cloud ICS/OT Remote Workforce Perimeter Analytics Security Monitoring Security Monitoring App Sec Database Security Database Security Risk Compliance Compliance Threat Intelligence Endpoint AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy Vulnerabilities / Threats Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Operations Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Physical Security IoT DR Global Middle East & Africa Middle East & Africa Black Hat news Omdia Research Events Close Back Events Events * Cybersecurity Outlook 2024 - A Dark Reading December 14 Event * Black Hat Europe - December 4-7 - Learn More Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game Nov 28, 2023 * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods Dec 05, 2023 Resources Close Back Resources Dark Reading Library > Reports > Webinars > White Papers > Slideshows > Newsletters > Events > Partner Perspectives: Microsoft Partner Perspectives: Google Cloud Newsletter Sign-Up The Edge DR Tech Sections Close Back Sections Featured Sections The Edge Dark Reading Technology Attacks / Breaches Cloud ICS/OT Remote Workforce Perimeter Analytics Security Monitoring Security Monitoring App Sec Database Security Database Security Risk Compliance Compliance Threat Intelligence Endpoint AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy Vulnerabilities / Threats Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Operations Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Physical Security IoT DR Global Middle East & Africa Middle East & Africa Black Hat news Omdia Research Events Close Back Events Events * Cybersecurity Outlook 2024 - A Dark Reading December 14 Event * Black Hat Europe - December 4-7 - Learn More Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game Nov 28, 2023 * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods Dec 05, 2023 Resources Close Back Resources Dark Reading Library > Reports > Webinars > White Papers > Slideshows > Newsletters > Events > Partner Perspectives: Microsoft Partner Perspectives: Google Cloud The Edge DR Tech Sections Close Back Sections Featured Sections The Edge Dark Reading Technology Attacks / Breaches Cloud ICS/OT Remote Workforce Perimeter Analytics Security Monitoring Security Monitoring App Sec Database Security Database Security Risk Compliance Compliance Threat Intelligence Endpoint AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy AuthenticationMobile SecurityPrivacy Vulnerabilities / Threats Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Advanced ThreatsInsider ThreatsVulnerability Management Operations Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Identity & Access ManagementCareers & People Physical Security IoT DR Global Middle East & Africa Middle East & Africa Black Hat news Omdia Research Events Close Back Events Events * Cybersecurity Outlook 2024 - A Dark Reading December 14 Event * Black Hat Europe - December 4-7 - Learn More Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game Nov 28, 2023 * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods Dec 05, 2023 Resources Close Back Resources Dark Reading Library > Reports > Webinars > White Papers > Slideshows > Newsletters > Events > Partner Perspectives: Microsoft Partner Perspectives: Google Cloud -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter Sign-Up SEARCH A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to perform a search. Announcements 1. Event Think Like an Attacker: Understanding Cybercriminals & Nation-State Threat Actor | Nov 16 Virtual Event <REGISTER NOW> PreviousNext DR Global 3 MIN READ News FBI WARNS: FIVE WEEKS IN, GAZA EMAIL SCAMS STILL THRIVING Cybercriminals are playing both sides with simple disaster scams, and it's working. Nate Nelson Contributing Writer, Dark Reading November 16, 2023 Source: Issam Elhafti via Alamy Stock Photo PDF The FBI is warning that fraudsters are using the war in Gaza to solicit cryptocurrencies from the sympathetic. On Nov. 14, and Nov. 6, different branches of the FBI published alerts that cybercriminals are masquerading as fundraisers and charities, using emails, social media, cold calls, and crowdfunding websites to convince victims that their money will go to either Palestinian or Israeli victims of the conflict. Often they're opportunistic cybercriminals, but sometimes they're terrorist organizations, which "often establish fake charities using social media platforms to subsidize their operations," the Bureau noted. Many hundreds of such scams have popped up since Oct. 7 and, apparently, they're working. One report compiled by Netcraft last month traced 1.6 million dollars' worth of crypto to accounts associated with these fake charities. It makes sense, then, that the trend isn't going away, and new campaigns — like the one described on Nov. 16 by Abnormal Security, targeting 212 individuals at 88 organizations — are still going strong. "When you see suffering on the news, the human brain wants to make things better. That's just the natural condition of how we're wired, and attackers know this," warns Mike Britton, CISO at Abnormal Security. "That's really the crux of why these campaigns are so effective — they know how to kind of short circuit your normal thinking, and hit you with a certain stimulus you're going to respond to differently than if you were looking at something without the same emotion and urgency." HOW FRAUDSTERS TRY TO MAKE EMAILS SEEM LEGIT Per the FBI, citizens should be suspicious of any unsolicited emails asking for money sent in forms not easily traceable, such as cash, wire transfers, gift cards, or, more often than not, cryptocurrencies. Crypto, in fact, played more than one useful role in the latest campaign tracked by Britton, playing on the suffering of Palestinian children. The perpetrator used a few everyday tricks, like spoofing a real India-based company's email domain (erode@gwcindia[.]in), changing the display name (help-palestine[.]com) to make it look extra legitimate, and peppering in emotional and urgent language (e.g. "the children in Palestine are dying") presented in mostly grammatically correct English. Often, scams like these lure victims to click on phishy links. By requesting payment in crypto, however, the attackers were able to avoid using any kind of URLs which might be picked up by a traditional email security filter. Source: Abnormal Security In fact, the links that were included in the email only served to lend emotion and legitimacy to the message. "If you look at the links here, they're normal links: AlJazeera, NBC News, UNICEF. Those lend credibility because as the recipient of this email, I'm going to think: 'Okay, Al Jazeera is a well-known news organization. NBC is well-known, UNICEF well-known — these aren't fishy BitLy domains," Britton points out. IT GETS WORSE Unwitting victims who believe they're donating a modest amount of crypto to a good cause could, in the end, lose much more than they bargained for. As Robert Duncan, vice president of product strategy at Netcraft points out, scammers have been using crypto wallet drainers to turn small donations into big money. "The crypto drainers are particularly effective — rather than many other types of donation fraud where the victim is still choosing how much cryptocurrency to send, crypto drainers can entirely empty a crypto wallet in one fell swoop," he explains. This might help explain the 1.6 million dollars lost to Gaza scams in only the first couple of weeks following the outbreak of conflict. And, Duncan adds, "the total amount lost is likely to be higher, as many of the scams do not surface the underlying cryptocurrency transaction without making a payment which Netcraft was not in a position to track." To snuff out these emails before they lead to crypto drains, Britton suggests the use of behavioral AI-enabled spam filtering, or some simple common sense. "You're always better off donating to a known, reputable organization. Don't do it through an unsolicited email, do it through their website, or a known contact that you have," he advises. Middle East & Africa Keep up with the latest cybersecurity threats, newly-discovered vulnerabilities, data breach information, and emerging trends. Delivered daily or weekly right to your email inbox. Subscribe More Insights White Papers * The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2023 * Threat Intelligence: Data, People and Processes More White Papers Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods More Webinars Reports * Passwords Are Passe: Next Gen Authentication Addresses Today's Threats * How to Deploy Zero Trust for Remote Workforce Security More Reports Editors' Choice Microsoft Zero-Days Allow Defender Bypass, Privilege Escalation Jai Vijayan, Contributing Writer, Dark Reading 'AlphaLock' Hackers Launch 'Pen-Testing Training' Group Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading Rackspace Ransomware Costs Soar to Nearly $12M Becky Bracken, Editor, Dark Reading Zero-Days in Edge Devices Become China's Cyber Warfare Tactic of Choice Jeffrey Schwartz, Contributing Writer, Dark Reading Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods * Modern Supply Chain Security: Integrated, Interconnected, and Context-Driven * How to Combat the Latest Cloud Security Threats * Reducing Cyber Risk in Enterprise Email Systems: It's Not Just Spam and Phishing More Webinars Reports * Passwords Are Passe: Next Gen Authentication Addresses Today's Threats * How to Deploy Zero Trust for Remote Workforce Security * What Ransomware Groups Look for in Enterprise Victims * Everything You Need to Know About DNS Attacks * How Enterprises Are Managing Application Security Risks in a Heightened Threat Environment More Reports White Papers * The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2023 * Threat Intelligence: Data, People and Processes * Building Cyber Resiliency: Key Strategies for Proactive Security Operations * Mandiant Threat Intelligence at Penn State Health * The Ultimate Guide to the CISSP More White Papers Events * Cybersecurity Outlook 2024 - A Dark Reading December 14 Event * Black Hat Europe - December 4-7 - Learn More * Cyber Resiliency 2023: How to Keep IT Operations Running, No Matter What More Events More Insights White Papers * The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2023 * Threat Intelligence: Data, People and Processes More White Papers Webinars * Tricks to Boost Your Threat Hunting Game * Hacking Your Digital Identity: How Cybercriminals Can and Will Get Around Your Authentication Methods More Webinars Reports * Passwords Are Passe: Next Gen Authentication Addresses Today's Threats * How to Deploy Zero Trust for Remote Workforce Security More Reports DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH * InformationWeek * Network Computing * ITPro Today * Data Center Knowledge * Black Hat * Omdia WORKING WITH US * About Us * Advertise * Reprints FOLLOW DARK READING ON SOCIAL * * * * * * * Home * Cookies * Privacy * Terms Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC Informa UK Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1072954 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG. 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