We’ve identified two new cyber scams to be mindful of.
As you know, many nonprofit organizations are actively raising money for the citizens of Ukraine. Taking advantage of people’s fundamental generosity, online con men have emailed millions of requests to assist Ukrainian refugees, orphans, and the wounded victims of Putin’s attack. Unfortunately, such donations help only cybercriminals.
Don’t respond to email solicitations for humanitarian relief. Instead, go to the websites of aid organizations that have been financially vetted and possess the infrastructure to convert your donation into a tangible benefit for the people who need it.
Charity Navigator’s website has a list of 30 legitimate organizations with links to their donations pages. It’s the only safe way to make sure your donation does what you want it to. Find them at charitynavigator [dot] org and click on the link for “Ukrainian-Russian Crisis.”
Another new phishing attack informs users that someone has logged into their account from an IP address in Moscow. The email contains a button to report the issue. Once pressed, the button opens a pre-written and addressed email, which is the first in a chain of communications about your “reported incident.” Of course, you’ll be prompted to provide additional information along the way, as well as to set up a private account so you can track all activity related to your “case.”
It’s bogus. But because of the current situation in Ukraine, gullible recipients are far more likely to follow through with the reporting process.
Unfortunately, there are always bad actors ready to exploit the suffering of one group of people to take advantage of the generosity of everyone else.
