{
    "title": "Attack trend alert: Email scams targeting donations to Ukraine",
    "url": "https://expel.com/blog/attack-trend-alert-email-scams-targeting-donations-to-ukraine/",
    "date": "Mar 24, 2022",
    "contents": "Subscribe \u00d7 EXPEL BLOG Attack trend alert: Email scams targeting donations to Ukraine Security operations \u00b7 5 MIN READ \u00b7 HIRANYA MIR, JOSE TALENO AND SIMON WONG \u00b7 MAR 24, 2022 \u00b7 TAGS: MDR / Tech tools As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, many people around the world are looking for opportunities to donate to Ukrainian relief efforts. For scammers, this presents an opportunity to prey on people\u2019s well-intentioned desire to help. Recently, we\u2019ve seen an increase in phishing emails masquerading as Ukrainian cryptocurrency and charitable apparel organizations. In this post, we\u2019ll show you what these emails look like and how to spot the tell-tale warning signs to ensure your donations are going to help those in need. It\u2019s both unsurprising and horrible that there are people out there trying to take advantage of the situation. We are not discouraging anyone from donating but, since there are bad actors at play, we do encourage people to verify their donations are going to a legitimate place to help those in need. Crypto scam emails If you\u2019re thinking about donating cryptocurrency to help victims in Ukraine, it\u2019s important to be aware of potential scam techniques before you hit \u201csend.\u201d Especially if you\u2019re prompted to donate via email solicitation, rather than seeking out a public wallet address associated with donation efforts. If you receive an email claiming to represent a charitable organization accepting crypto donations, there are some key clues to indicate whether it\u2019s genuine or not. The email below is a recent example of a crypto scam email: Crypto scam email Our first clue that things are amiss? The name and address listed in the \u201cFrom\u201d field. Let\u2019s zoom in a bit more\u2026 Email headers and signature field The doctor\u2019s name listed on the \u201cFrom\u201d field (Dr.Maxim Aronov), doesn\u2019t match the email address listed on the \u201cFrom\u201d field (fontbadia@). Also, the email address provided in the signature field, maximaronov40@gmail[d]com, isn\u2019t associated with the children\u2019s clinic. If we look up the email reputation for maximaronov40@gmail[d]com we can see that this address isn\u2019t linked to any social media profiles on major services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and iCloud. While this could also mean this is a new email address, it\u2019s also suspicious. Next, let\u2019s inspect the public wallet address listed in the email body. (We\u2019ve hidden the wallet address but for anyone wondering, it was an Ethereum public address.) Crypto transactions are stored on the blockchain \u2014 leaving us a nice digital footprint of transaction activity associated with a public wallet address. You can review the transaction history of a public address using block chain explorer sites like blockchain.com and Polkascan. Below is the transaction history of the public wallet address listed in the email body: Public Ethereum address transaction history What stands out? This public wallet address has recorded zero transactions. When donating crypto to Ukrainian relief efforts, be wary of public addresses with minimal transaction history and low balances. Would you buy an expensive watch from a seller on Ebay with zero transaction history? Probably a red flag, right? The same applies to crypto donations. For a comparison, the Ukraine government\u2019s (verified) Twitter account shared three cryptocurrency wallet addresses \u2014 a Bitcoin wallet address, Ethereum wallet address, and Polkadot address. Below is the transaction history for the Bitcoin public address 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P: BTC transaction history for 357a3So9CbsNfBBgFYACGvxxS6tMaDoa1P This public wallet address has recorded tens of thousands of transactions and is labeled as a \u201cUkraine Donation Address.\u201d This is a stark contrast to the transaction history of the Ethereum public wallet address listed in the email body. The bottom line? If you\u2019re thinking about donating crypto, double-check the public address and transaction history before hitting \u201csend.\u201d You can review the transaction history of a public address using block chain explorer sites like blockchain.com and Polkascan. Be wary of public addresses with minimal transaction history and low balances. Also, perform a quick Google search of the public address. If it\u2019s not linked to Ukraine crypto donation efforts, that\u2019s a tell-tale sign that something is wrong. Fake charitable apparel emails Scammers don\u2019t just target people wanting to donate. They also target people looking to \u201cshow\u201d their support. If you\u2019re thinking about buying apparel to support Ukraine, here are a couple of things to lookout for before you hit \u201cbuy it now.\u201d Here\u2019s a recent phishing email investigated by our SOC: Fake charitable apparel email Our first clue that something just doesn\u2019t feel right? The email address listed in the \u201cFrom\u201d field has no online presence according to our friends at EmailRep . Now focusing on the email body, if we were to click the \u201cClick Here to View\u201d hyperlink, that would connect our web browser to a domain hosted at u.danhramvaiqua[d]xyz. Email hyperlink For some quick context, the .xyz top-level domain has a history of domain abuse . We\u2019re in no way saying that all websites using the .xyz top-level domain lead to bad things, but used in this way \u2014 it\u2019s certainly enough to grab our analyst\u2019s attention. Let\u2019s take a look at the website reputation for u.danhramvaiqua[d]xyz. Reviewing a website\u2019s reputation is a great way to understand if a specific IP, URL, or domain name has a negative reputation or if it\u2019s been categorized as malicious. There are a number of free resources you can use. Submit the domain and review the results. It\u2019s that easy. Here are a couple of our favorites: Symantec Site Review URLVoid Talos IP and Domain reputation Webpulse Site Review classified the u.danhramvaiqua[d]xyz domain as phishing. Webpulse domain reputation results So far, we have an email address with no digital presence sending an email with a hyperlink that points to a .xyz domain that has a reputation of phishing. This is enough evidence to make the decision to either delete the email in question or forward it on to your IT team for further review. But for folks looking to go an additional step, let\u2019s take a look at what happens when we load the \u201cu.danhramvaiqua[d]xyz\u201d page in a sandbox and browse the URL as if a user visited that page. We\u2019ll use URLScan \u2014 another free online resource. URLscan provided us the effective URL (where the domain is pointing to), provided us screenshots by loading the page (which it does if the page is active), and even let us know Cloudflare issued a TLS certificate for the site on February 28, 2022. The biggest takeaway is that if a user were to click the \u201cClick Here to View\u201d hyperlink, they\u2019d be redirected to www[d]mimoprint[d]shop. URLscan results You may be asking, should I look up the website reputation for www[d]mimoprint[d]shop? Absolutely! Spoiler: It\u2019s got a bad reputation. If you\u2019re considering a donation to support victims of the crisis in Ukraine, be aware of the prevalence of scams at play to make sure your donations are actually going to help those in need. We strongly recommend using official channels to make donations and researching your options before you hit \u201csend\u201d or \u201cbuy it now.\u201d Things you can do to spot potential scam emails Before clicking on hyperlinks, hover over them and check where that URL may lead you. Report suspicious emails to your security team and avoid interacting with any unsolicited emails. Ensure your org conducts frequent security awareness training sessions and that they\u2019re adapted to current events that might be used to mislead your end-users. Make sure your org has a good security email gateway product in place for protection. Have questions about scams like these, or want to learn more about the Expel Phishing team? Reach out any time."
}