Avast is deeply saddened by the Ukraine-Russia scenario. Now we have staff and prospects in each international locations and are monitoring the scenario very intently. We’re centered as a precedence on guaranteeing our persons are secure and offering the help and assist they and their households want at this difficult time. We’re additionally devoted to sustaining the place potential our companies and merchandise to our customers and our menace intelligence staff has been working to shortly determine the brand new threats which can be arising because of the battle.
As cybercriminals search to make the most of the chaos, we have now tracked within the final 48 hours quite a few scammers who’re tricking folks out of cash by pretending they’re Ukrainians in determined want of economic assist. Prior to now, we have now seen related scams for folks caught whereas touring or in search of love. Sadly, these attackers don’t function ethically and can use any alternative to get cash out of individuals keen to assist others in want. What’s suspicious is the quick point out of Bitcoin, in addition to the usernames that consist solely of letters and numbers.
ESET additionally reported another scam of a webpage asking folks for help by shopping for “UkraineTokens.”
There additionally is likely to be some legitimately troubled people who find themselves utilizing cryptocurrency requests to ask for assist; nevertheless, just like the particular person on this Russian underground discussion board, it’s not clear which requests are respectable requests. This poster is asking different discussion board customers for $1.2 in BTC to assist him in a dire scenario and it’s fascinating to notice that the Bitcoin transaction charge is increased than the requested quantity.
There have additionally been stories of comparable scams spreading on TikTok and different social media websites. Generally, we strongly advise to not ship any cash to unknown folks instantly, particularly in any type of cryptocurrency, as it’s nearly inconceivable to infer if it’s a particular person in want or a scammer. If you wish to assist the folks of Ukraine, we suggest folks solely donate by means of official, trusted organizations and achieve this instantly on their web site reasonably than any hyperlinks shared on social media.
