Many Israelis received alarming SMS messages on Wednesday night urging them to immediately enter protected areas, in what appears to be a cyberattack impersonating the Home Front Command.
The messages, which follow recent pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon, have been confirmed by the IDF as fraudulent.
The messages were sent from "OREFAlert," mimicking the Hebrew name for the Home Front Command, Pikud HaOref. The message, riddled with spelling errors, warned: “Emergency alert, you must immediately enter a protected area,” and included a malicious link.
“I received such a message. It seems fake. Maybe Hezbollah?” one reader wrote in an email to Ynet. Others speculated it could be a phishing attempt, a virus or an Iranian cyberattack.
The IDF confirmed that the Home Front Command did not send the messages and said the incident is under investigation. “There is currently no change in the Home Front Command’s instructions,” the army said.
Later that night, additional threatening messages were received by Israelis. One, purportedly from “SyHaNasrala,” read: “Say goodbye to your loved ones; but don’t worry. You will embrace them in hell in a few hours.”
Another message, written in English from "NEMA," read, “If you want to live, leave. If you want to stay, go to hell,” also including a malicious link.
A text message from "CyberIL" claimed, “Hackers have full access to your devices. Return to factory settings,” with another link that appeared to be harmful.
Authorities are urging the public not to click on any suspicious links and to report any such messages to the relevant authorities.