"Your account will be deactivated - Russia sanctions." Messages along these lines are the subject of a growing number of fake emails sent by cybercriminals amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the global insecurity it has caused.

Fraudsters claim that all financial service providers are now obliged verify their data in order to comply with sanctions against Russia.

Among the first targets was the German trading platform Bitcoin.de, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) in the state of Lower Saxony warned in March. Other platforms and banks are now expected to be targeted in further waves of phishing attacks.

Follow the instructions of the scammers in the current Bitcoin phishing email, and you will most likely lose access to your account on the platform and any finances you have stored there, the police warn.

Cybersecurity experts repeatedly warn that banks and cryptocurrency platforms never ask customers to enter any login data by email. If in doubt, you should ring the service provider in question.

It's also important to never open the attachments in online banking or cryptocurrency emails and never click on any links in these emails, as this can lead to malware being installed on your computer.

Where possible, you should also always use all available security mechanisms for online accounts, including two-factor authentication (2FA).

Anyone who has fallen victim to such a scam should contact the trading platform, try to change the account access data and report the crime to the local police.

 - dpa