It has been revealed that fraudsters are sending fake emails and WhatsApp messages to ministries and departments in the name of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The Cabinet Division has issued an advisory directing all ministries and departments to be vigilant against arson.
According to the advisory, recently a cyber incident of sending fake WhatsApp messages and then emails containing malicious attachments “Notice 3rd EC meeting EC SIFC.rar” and “Apex Agenda.rar” from fake appointments of the PMO and SIFC cell, PM secretariat to various ministries has been reported.
Mobile numbers and email IDs have been identified that claim to belong to the SIFC Cell Prime Minister Office and insist the Ministries Officials download files through web WhatsApp or emails. An inquiry into the incident has been initiated by the NTISB.
The cabinet division has asked the officials of ministries to be vigilant while opening a password-protected .rar file containing references to the SIFC apex committee or any other committee meetings. According to the cabinet division, these files should be open after approval from relevant departments.
According to the advisory, a RAR file even without a password containing a .chm file and an .exe file or application file shall not be opened without the approval of NITB staff. All ministries and divisions must install antivirus on all systems being used for opening of emails. Ministries can use an alternate MAC or PC with a user-friendly version for this purpose.
The advisory has instructed users to ignore messages received from the following officers, WhatsApp numbers, and email addresses and also block them: 03554231407 – Mr. Javed (Deputy Director, SIFC, PM Secretariat); 03417413656 – Mr. Shahzad Ahmad (Assistant Director, PM0, SIFC cell); 03470300269; email ID: [email protected].
According to the advisory, all the Ministries that opened email on 3rd August 2023 from JS COORD must also block the IP address: 151.236.30.248 for outbound communication in their firewall.
Source: Pro Pakistani