Ransomware that uses a fake children's charity for phishing
CryptoMix uses information lifted from children's charities to coerce victims into ransom payments


A new strain of ransomware has surfaced that pretends to be working for the good of a children's charity rather than for criminal gain, in an attempt to make handing over cash more palatable for a victim.
The newly discovered CryptoMix has been found masquerading as a Robin Hood-style of ransomware, providing links to a fictitious charity and an offer to put their name with their donation.
First spotted by cyber security firm Covewave, the ransom notes go so far as to include the names, diagnosis, and even pictures of young children that the ransom payments claim to support which, according to Covewave, the information appears to have been lifted from crowdfunding websites.
"In recent cases, Coveware observed ransom notes and communications that referenced a fictitious charity but real children," the company said. "The ransom communications begin with a .txt file that provides email addresses that the victim may use to contact the ransomware distributor."
Covewave have an example of the email exchange hackers use with this scheme. In the correspondence, they claim to work for a fictitious charity and give a description of a child's diagnosis and the funding amount being raised.
Email of a hacker using CryptoMix - courtesy of Covewave
Disturbingly, the email contained an image of what Croewave said appeared to be a 3-year-old girl lifted off a crowdfunding site.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
From there, the hacker will direct the victim to view payment information with instructions on a temporary page. This page includes bitcoin wallet payment instructions and more detail on the fake charity.
"We are guessing this tactic is meant to assuage the moral hazard associated with paying a ransom," Covewave explained. "It goes without saying that these cyber criminals did think this through. It is poignantly obvious that the charity is fake, and that the details of the child's case are lifted from other sites."
After paying the ransom, a victim is given more detail about the charity as well as a message suggesting their own name will be used alongside their donation.
CryptoMix has also been identified by Avast as a particularly nasty type of ransomware that can ultimately leaves your files locked even if you pay the ransom.
This strain of ransomware was first spotted in March 2016. The spread of this ransomware could be described as a medium level of prevalence and uses exploit kits as its main delivery method.
"Once CryptoMix infects a machine, it tries to communicate with its command and control server to establish a key to encrypt files. However, if the server is not available or if there is a connection issue, such as a blocked communication by a firewall, the ransomware will encrypt files with one of its fixed keys, or 'offline key'," it said.
Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.
Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continues
News Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
By Ross Kelly
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPT
Opinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
By Ross Kelly
-
Ransomware attacks are rising — but quiet payouts could mean there's more than actually reported
News Ransomware attacks continue to climb, but they may be even higher than official figures show as companies choose to quietly pay to make such incidents go away.
By Nicole Kobie
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolen – and security experts say it won't be the last
News Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
By Ross Kelly
-
‘Phishing kits are a force multiplier': Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25 – and experts warn it’s lowering the barrier of entry for amateur hackers
News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
By Emma Woollacott
-
Healthcare systems are rife with exploits — and ransomware gangs have noticed
News Nearly nine-in-ten healthcare organizations have medical devices that are vulnerable to exploits, and ransomware groups are taking notice.
By Nicole Kobie
-
Alleged LockBit developer extradited to the US
News A Russian-Israeli man has been extradited to the US amid accusations of being a key LockBit ransomware developer.
By Emma Woollacott
-
February was the worst month on record for ransomware attacks – and one threat group had a field day
News February 2025 was the worst month on record for the number of ransomware attacks, according to new research from Bitdefender.
By Emma Woollacott
-
CISA issues warning over Medusa ransomware after 300 victims from critical sectors impacted
News The Medusa ransomware as a Service operation compromised twice as many organizations at the start of 2025 compared to 2024
By Solomon Klappholz
-
Warning issued over prolific 'Ghost' ransomware group
News The Ghost ransomware group is known to act fast and exploit vulnerabilities in public-facing appliances
By Solomon Klappholz