A report shows that fraudsters are increasing their efforts to lure donors to “help Ukraine” via cryptocurrency, as the country continues to raise millions of bitcoin.
Crypto Scams Induce Prospective Donors To Support Invaded Nation
In an article by Bleeping Computer, Bleeping Computer warned that people who want to send cryptocurrency to Ukraine to defend their country from a Russian military operation may fall for phishing websites, forum posts and emails.
Tech news outlet has discovered a variety of scams that encourage crypto users to “help Ukraine” with donations of bitcoin and other digital currency to addresses other than those provided by the government in Kyiv or Ukrainian NGOs.
There are many methods used by the fraudsters to con people into believing they are scammers. They use phishing emails that appear to be from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, NPR domains, or forum posts apparently associated with the “Help Ukraine” movement.
The report reveals that other cybersecurity and ransomware researchers such as Malware Hunter Team and Jake Jcybersec_ have found more .org and .com domains established by scammers such as “Ukraine-donate,” “Ukraineglobalaid” and “Ukrainewar.support.”
These scams could be more effective because they frequently make emotional appeals that target audiences may find difficult to resist, according to the publication. To fund their defense efforts, the Ukrainian government and volunteer groups actively seek donations from coin.
The crypto community also supported humanitarian efforts in the face of the conflict. Binance, the world’s largest digital asset exchange, has announced that it will donate $10 million to support the Ukrainian people. The recently launched crowdfunding campaign, “Humanity First-Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund” coordinates third party assistance.