Cybercriminals capitalize on LA wildfire chaos via fake GoFundMe’s and crypto coins

Cybercriminals are using various tactics to scam unsuspecting victims and good Samaritans out of their money and sensitive information during the devastation following the Los Angeles wildfires.

The cybersecurity company BforeAI discovered 119 domains registered between January 8th and January 13th, 2025, at the height of the wildfire panic and just as the wildfires were gaining significant media attention.

These domains utilized keywords such as “LA fire,” “wildfire,” “relief,” “fund,” and “rebuild,” capitalizing on the topics trending in the media.

Half of the domains were registered through GoDaddy, a web hosting service recently slammed by the Federal Trade Commission for poor cybersecurity practices.

Other web hosting services involved include Namecheap, Register, Ionos, Hostinger, Squarespace, Tucows, and more.

Scammers aimed to assert credibility by using top-level domains (TDL) like “.com,” which made up 70% of the total number of sites.

Curiously, the bad actors used the TDL “.fund,” which hinted at their main objective – to steal funds from unsuspecting victims and good Samaritans.

BforeAI observed some domains and hinted at what the threat actors could gain from exploiting the wildfire.

For example, the domains “helplafire[.]com, fundlafires[.]com,” were most likely created to commit financial fraud and potentially harvest personally identifiable information.

GoFundMe fakes

A plethora of fake GoFundMe’s began popping up during the LA wildfires. However, they weren’t established to help rebuild homes or provide aid to families and individuals affected by the fires. Instead, scammers exploited lost and injured family pets to pilfer money from unsuspecting victims.

For example, one supposed criminal created a GoFundMe for a dog that was supposedly injured by the wildfires. The campaign was called “Aid Our Recovery from LA Fire Tragedy.”

The image used was from a different GoFundMe of a dog with cancer. However, the photo used appears to be from yet another scam campaign.

Scammers set up various GoFundMe campaigns, posing as actual people who were trying to protect, shelter, and heal displaced animals who have also fallen victim to the LA fires.

More unbelievable LA fire scams

Crooks even set up merchandise stores claiming to support victims of the LA wildfires under the guise that this merchandise was coming from the Los Angeles Fire Department.

New cryptocurrency coins relating to the LA wildfires also began to surge, coins that may or may not be legitimate. However, victims could potentially fall prey to these “get rich quick” schemes.

While these may seem like obvious schemes, those wishing to help the LA Fire Department financially might fall into this trap.

This is the same with cryptocurrency schemes, as many people might invest under the promise of quick financial gains after losing everything they once owned in the fires.

These crypto “pump and dump” schemes also use social media to target far-reaching audiences, which is what makes these scams so successful, BforeAI concluded, especially at a time when keywords like “Los Angeles” and “wildfires” are trending.