Many Israelis received fraudulent text messages on Sunday evening claiming to originate from the IDF Home Front Command, falsely warning of potential terrorist attacks in bomb shelters and urging recipients to avoid using shelters until further notice.

The messages, sent from a spoofed sender labeled "OREFAlert," were quickly identified as fake by Israeli authorities.

Officials believe these threats are part of a psychological warfare campaign orchestrated by Iranian or pro-Iranian groups aiming to sow widespread panic during the ongoing military campaign against Iran, known as Operation Rising Lion.

Another fake message circulated warned that fuel supplies would be suspended nationwide from midnight for 24 hours.

Message received by Israelis saying: ''Urgent warning: Possibility of terrorist attack in shelters, you should avoid staying in the shelters until futher notice.'' (credit: National Cyber Directorate )
Message received by Israelis saying: ''Urgent warning: Possibility of terrorist attack in shelters, you should avoid staying in the shelters until futher notice.'' (credit: National Cyber Directorate )
The National Cyber Directorate confirmed that these messages contained no malicious links or malware that would harm the cellular device.

Israelis have been instructed to disregard the messages and report any suspicious communications directly to the authorities.

Cyber attacks on Israel since Israel's war with Iran began

Since Operation Rising Lion began last Friday, cybersecurity firm Check Point has reported over 2,000 threatening emails targeting Israeli institutions, including universities, local municipalities, and healthcare organizations.

Messages included threats such as, "Prepare for bitter death, dig your graves."

Additionally, both the Home Front Command and the National Cyber Directorate have warned the public about phone calls impersonating official government alerts.

There was a 700% increase in cyberattacks against Israel in the first two days of the war, compared to the time period before June 12, cybersecurity firm Radware said on Sunday.

“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.