Romania, third in the world for number of targets of new cyber scam connected to Israel-Hamas conflict

Cyber security specialists from Bitdefender discovered a new scam campaign by which hackers are trying to exploit the feelings of donors interested in helping victims, after the beginning of war between Israel and Hamas terrorist group, and most of such messages are targeting users in Russia, Sweden and Romania.   “Despite thousands of victims and the real need of humanitarian assistance, cyber criminals continue their ruthless attacks, acting both as victims and representatives of fake charity organizations. Fraudulent messages are similar to those noticed by Bitdefender specialists in the Ukraine war, with requests for donations in cryptocurrency and the payment of taxes in advance. Since the war continues, this type of scam will reach more users in the whole world, while attackers will improve their “stories” and donation demands according to the evolution of conflicts. Bitdefender specialists in cyber security have discovered a new scam campaign by which hackers are trying to exploit the feelings of donors interested in helping victims, after the beginning of war between Israel and Hamas terrorist group,” a company press release reads.   According to the investigation, messaged by which cyber criminals take advantage of the empathy of online communities in the context of this devastating war in order to get financial benefits were sent to users as of October 13, 2023, most of them in Russia (27%), Sweden (15%) and Romania (10%).   Cyber security experts recommend users to be more vigilent when they receive charity messages or access such websites to help people in need, because risks of losing their financial and personal data are very high, especially in these times.   “The best way of keeping safe and really help is to approach well known charity organizations, and those who request cryptocurrency donations, bank transfers and gift cards represent a strong alarm signal and must be avoided by any means. Never answer unrequested emails. That will confirm attackers the validity of your email address and will expose you to more attacks in the future,” Bitdefender specialists point out.   Set up in 2001, Bitdefender company has customers in over 170 countries and offices on all continents.