Over the last 48 hours, numerous Israelis were targeted with deceptive text messages falsely attributed to the IDF Home Front Command. The bogus alerts warned of impending terror attacks inside bomb shelters and advised people to stay away from those shelters until further instructions were issued.
The texts appeared under the sender name “OREFAlert,” mimicking official messaging systems. However, authorities were quick to announce that the messages were fraudulent and had no connection to the IDF.
Security experts suspect the messages are part of a broader psychological manipulation effort, likely driven by Iranian or Iran-affiliated operatives, seeking to incite fear and confusion amid Israel’s ongoing military effort, Operation Rising Lion.
In addition to the shelter warnings, another fake alert was spread claiming that the nation’s fuel distribution would be shut down at midnight for a full day.
The National Cyber Directorate clarified that the fraudulent messages did not include dangerous links or software capable of compromising mobile devices.
Government agencies have urged citizens to ignore such messages and to immediately report any questionable content or activity to the proper authorities.
Cybersecurity company Check Point revealed that since the launch of Operation Rising Lion last Friday, more than 2,000 threatening emails have been directed at Israeli entities, including educational institutions, local governments, and health service providers. Some emails featured menacing statements like, “Prepare for bitter death, dig your graves.”
Officials from both the National Cyber Directorate and the Home Front Command have also alerted the public to phone calls impersonating official government alerts, designed to further mislead the population.
Cybersecurity firm Radware reported a dramatic spike in online hostilities, noting that Israel experienced a 700% increase in cyberattacks within the first 48 hours of the conflict compared to pre-war levels.
“The 700% surge in malicious activity within just two days stems from cyber retaliation operations by Iranian state actors and pro-Iranian hacker groups, including DDoS attacks, infiltration attempts targeting critical infrastructure, data theft, and malware distribution campaigns,” said Ron Meyran, VP of Cyber Threat Intelligence at Radware.
{Matzav.com}