‘Netanyahu is dead’ – Iran sowing fear, confusion among Israelis with bogus messages

Israeli authorities say Iran is sending fake emergency alerts disguised as Home Front Command messages, spreading panic with false claims and hijacking users’ devices with malicious software.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli authorities are warning that Iranian intelligence is conducting a large-scale fraud campaign targeting Israeli cellphone devices with SMS messages featuring threats, spreading misinformation or carrying malicious software.

The National Cyber Directorate said on Thursday that Iran is engaged in a phishing campaign, sending false emergency alerts to Israeli phones, with messages disguised as official warnings from Israel’s Home Front Command.

The messages include links to sites that encourage users to download what appear to be apps providing information on the location of nearby bomb shelters.

However, the applications are, in fact, spyware capable of compromising cellular devices, collecting personal information, and stealing login information for various accounts saved on a device.

Beyond the phishing messages, Iran is also working to spread misinformation in Israel, with the goal of sowing fear, confusion, and distrust in local authorities.

Some messages include direct threats, while others promote Iranian propaganda, including false claims that a number of Israeli leaders have been killed in the ongoing war with Iran.

“Netanyahu is dead,” one message sent en masse to Israeli cellphones reads. “Your death is coming and soon the gates of hell will be opened on you.”

“Before the hellfire of Iranian missiles destroys you, leave Palestine.”

According to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth, the National Cyber Directorate believes that Iranian hackers have breached Israeli customer messaging systems, using SMS message lists to send out fraudulent and threatening messages to numbers included in the contact databases.

Cybersecurity firm Check Point has said that the campaign demonstrates a relatively high level of sophistication, using forged verification certificates in some instances, giving the outgoing messages the appearance of being legitimate communications by the Home Front Command.