In Kyiv, the SSU uncovered a group of individuals working for a 6,000 accounts strong bot farm that disseminated anti-Ukrainian content.

According to the investigation, the group included 9 residents of Kyiv who  developed and utilized specialized software and equipment that enabled them to manage multiple bots. In particular, artificial intelligence allowed to:

• automatically register new accounts;
• fill profiles with content;
• simultaneously administer a large number of fake ‘users’ of popular social networks.

To gain trust, criminals disseminated messages from ‘verified accounts’, using forged documents of Ukrainian citizens. The fake IDs were provided to Facebook support team to confirm the person’s ‘authenticity’.

The ‘verified’ accounts were used to distribute publications and comments upon the orders from third parties. Mostly, the content aimed at strengthening protest sentiments in Ukraine, including anti-vaccination attitudes.

Another area of ​​activity of the bot farm was advertising fraudsters who lured potential victims to phishing sites imitating banking institutions, international broker projects and online casinos; all these aimed at stealing victims’ money.

In addition, the offenders were in collusion with the owners of fraudulent call centers. They regularly supplied them with new ‘clients’ from among their readers and received monetary reward for each victim.

During searches conducted at the organizers’ office and homes, the law enforcement seized:

• computers and mobile devices with evidence of receiving orders to promote anti-vaccination publications and participation in protests, ‘promotion’ of fraudulent and phishing sites;
• over 500 forged electronic copies of identity documents of Ukrainian citizens;
• hardware and software for simultaneous anonymous administration of a large number of accounts;
• over 100 bank cards used to anonymize payments received for illegal services.

The pre-trial investigation into fraud (Article 190) and Illegal actions with remittance documents and payment cards (Article 200) is underway to bring to justice all those involved in the scheme.

The SSU Main Directorate in Kyiv and Kyiv region carried out the operation under the supervision of Sviatoshynskyi District Prosecutor’s Office.