SSU investigators have collected an exhaustive evidence base and notified the organizer of a bot farm of suspicion. The unlawful entity was shut down by SSU cyber specialists in 2021 in Ivano-Frankivsk region.

The offender used almost 11,000 cards of a Ukrainian mobile operator to create fake accounts.

The ‘capacity’ of this bot farm was actively used by a large russian Internet platform that illegally rents out phone numbers. This made it possible to create thousands of fake accounts in social networks, messengers and video hostings. Because of them, there was a serious distortion of the information space, ‘increase’ of the number of views, likes, and comments.

This enabled the ‘farm’ to influence the public opinion in the interests of enemy propaganda.

The bot farm organizer has been notified of suspicion under Article 361.2 of the CCU.

The offence is punishable by up to 6 years in prison.

The pre-trial investigation established that the person in question took the initiative, reached out to russians through a specialized Telegram channel and agreed terms of cooperation and payment. After that, he received detailed instructions on how to launch the bot farm. Russians gave him access to the software, while he purchased the hardware for the bot farm.

The forensic examination confirmed that the suspect used SIM-banks, which allow to quickly replace SIM cards and spoof IMEIs in order to hide unlawful activities and evade blocking by the operator.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

The SSU Office in Ivano-Frankivsk region is conducting investigation under the procedural supervision of Ivano-Frankivsk Region Prosecutor’s Office.