Hurricane Florence May Lead to Phishing Scams and Malware

Hackers and spammers will most likely prey on people’s empathy for Hurricane Florence victims to solicit charitable donations ostensibly for victim relief, as they have done in previous natural disasters such as Hurricane Harvey. ZeroFOX platform specialists are monitoring our platform for fraudulent activity related to Hurricane Florence, based on historical patterns of threat actors using natural disasters to scam or hack unwitting donors or investors through email and social media. For example, the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center has warned of potential malicious cyber activity related to Florence. Threat actors seek to profit from natural disasters in a variety of ways, including:

• Enticing targets to click on spam links—seemingly related to charity—that generate advertising revenue
• Enticing targets to donate money through fraudulent pages, some of which may be imitating charity organizations or websites
• Enticing targets to click on fraudulent charity-related links that download malware
• Enticing targets to invest in scams that promise future high stock payouts related storm clean-up and rebuilding, also known as stock fraud

Hackers and spammers use a variety of methods to lure their targets into clicking on bad links or donating through fraudulent sites, including using social media to build credibility and increase sharing. Threat actors may use tactics and techniques such as:

• Using bots on Twitter to spread donation links leading to spam or malware sites
• Impersonating websites and social media accounts of legitimate charity organizations
• Sending fraudulent charity emails with bad links or attachments
• Registering domains related to the particular natural disaster
• Creating fake donation campaigns on crowdfunding sites
• Using fraud messaging that includes vague victim stories, pressure to act quickly, or promises of high payouts for a company involved in clean-up

Recommendations

• Configure relevant entities in the ZeroFOX platform to help identify fraud by adding “hurricane florence” to your Combined Search Terms, or talk to your platform specialist or account manager about configuring your entities
• Be cautious of unfamiliar individuals or organizations soliciting donations or investments through social media, email, or phone
• Conduct thorough research on charity organizations and use a website that rates organizations, such as Charity Navigator (https://www.charitynavigator.org/) or CharityWatch (https://www.charitywatch.org/home)
• Be cautious of requests for donations or investments in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money, which are frequent methods of payment for scams
• Report potential scams to crowdfunding sites, and reach out for a potential refund in the case of a suspected scam

Sources

1. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/beware-these-hurricane-harvey-phishing-and-spam-attacks/
2. https://www.cnet.com/news/hurricane-harvey-charity-donations-scam-phishing-attack/
3. https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2018/09/14/Potential-Hurricane-Florence-Phishing-Scams
4. https://www.cisecurity.org/white-papers/cyber-intel-advisory-cyber-threat-actors-expected-to-leverage-major-storms-for-fraud/
5. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/how-donate-wisely-and-avoid-charity-scams
6. http://www.finra.org/investors/alerts/beware-stock-fraud-hurricane-florence