Fraudulent advertisements requesting donations to Ukrainians are appearing on the Darknet, according to research from cybersecurity firm Check Point.

The Darknet is a part of the internet that isn’t visible to search engines, which requires the use of anonymised browsers such as Tor to access and is frequently used for trading illegal drugs.

Check Point said all these advertisements are requesting donation funds in the form of cryptocurrency and warned the public to not donate to Ukraine via the Darknet, as cybercriminals are looking to capitalise off the high interest in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The Ukrainian government and non-government organisations (NGOs) providing support to the military, have raised almost $63.8 million in cryptocurrencies according to figures from blockchain analysis company Elliptic.

"These advertisements are using fake names and personal stories to lure people into donating,” said Oded Vanunu, head of product vulnerabilities research at Check Point Software. “In one example, we saw someone alleging to be the name ‘Marina’, displaying a personal photo with her children in hand.

“It turns out that the image is actually taken from a German newspaper. At the same time, we’re seeing legitimate advertisements for donations to help Ukrainians, where we show one example that managed to raise nearly ten million dollars.”

He added: “Thus, legitimate and fraudulent advertisements are being mixed on the Darknet."

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