The US has charged two Iranians for their involvement in a campaign to “intimidate and influence American voters” in the 2020 presidential election.
According to court documents, the men and their associates “waged a targeted, coordinated campaign to erode confidence in the integrity of the US electoral system and sow discord”.
This included hacking state voter registration websites as well as pretending to be members of the far-right Proud Boys group in emails to Democratic voters threatening “physical injury if they did not change their party affiliation and vote for President Trump”.
The men, Seyyed Kazemi, 24, and Sajjad Kashian, 27, are described as “experienced computer hackers” who work as contractors for an Iranian company that provides services to the Iranian government.
Alongside stealing voter information, they falsely claimed that the Democratic Party was planning to exploit “serious security vulnerabilities” in state voter registration websites to “edit mail-in ballots or even register non-existent voters” according to the FBI.
These claims were sent via email and Facebook message to “Republican Senators, Republican members of Congress, individuals associated with the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, White House advisors, and members of the media” according to the FBI.
A video accompany these false messages, carrying the Proud Boys logo as the Iranians pretended to be members of the group, purported to “depict an individual hacking into state voter websites and using stolen voter information to create fraudulent absentee ballots” the FBI said.
Mr Trump was criticised for failing to condemn the Proud Boys during an election debate, instead telling them to “stand back and stand by” which was seen by members of the group as a tacit approval.
Source : skynews
