Carding Forum
Professional
Bloggers in the Middle East are facing a new extortion scheme.
In May 2023, prominent Iraqi blogger and activist Isaa Ahmed-Adnan encountered an unexpected problem. His popular Instagram account, which has more than 500,000 followers, began to suffer strange attacks: sponsored posts and videos published by him suddenly disappeared due to copyright violations.
Ahmed-Adnan carefully avoided using copyrighted music or other materials, so he was confused. One of the first deleted videos was a video in which the blogger talked about a local restaurant and tried various dishes. Then a similar fate overtook a post about a volunteer campaign to clean up the Tigris River.
Trying to understand the situation, the blogger contacted via WhatsApp with a person who claimed that it was he who complained to Instagram about the posts. He introduced himself as the owner of an intellectual property protection business and admitted that Ahmed-Adnan's posts did not violate anyone's copyright. However, the stranger offered to restore deleted content for $3,000, which is about the blogger's monthly income. As an alternative, a subscription to "protection" from such fake complaints was offered for $1,000 per month or $7,000 per year.
The source also sent a screenshot to explain what Ahmed-Adnan was up against. The screenshot showed the Meta Rights Manager tool, which helps content owners automatically identify infringing content so that this content can be removed from the platform. The image highlighted some of Ahmed-Adnan's content, as well as a request for deletion.
The problem, known as "copyright trolling," has spread widely across the Middle East. Meta, in turn, states that it regularly blocks accounts that abuse copyright management tools, but the real situation suggests otherwise. Scammers find ways to circumvent the system and profit from bona fide users.
Influencers in the region today complain that Meta makes it difficult to get legitimate access to Rights Manager and even rejects applications from owners of millions of accounts without explanation. A Meta spokesperson said the company is selective about candidates for the position of "rights manager" to "ensure that only legitimate rights holders have access to Rights Manager." But there was a black market that made it easier for the tool to fall into the wrong hands.
The Iraqi activist organization Tech4Peace is trying to help victims of such schemes. Tech4Peace, as part of Meta's Trusted Partner Network, has helped more than 100 victims. However, the process of restoring accounts often takes about a month, which is unacceptable for many influencers, for whom social networks are the main source of income.
Ahmed-Adnan was able to recover some of his content thanks to the intervention of Tech4Peace, but faced new waves of attacks, which led to significant financial losses. Ahmed-Adnan estimates his losses at $20,000.
According to Tech4Peace, such a scheme brought ransomware up to $1 million, and Meta "did not take action to prevent the problem." It is noted that the company should at least block IP addresses associated with the accounts of fraudsters. The victims of the scheme were hospitals, social activists, fashion models and other business owners.
Fraudsters who take advantage of the system's vulnerabilities not only profit from influencers, but also undermine the credibility of platforms that have become an important source of information and communication for millions of people in the region. This case highlights the need for greater control and improvement of user rights protection systems by large technology companies.
Source
In May 2023, prominent Iraqi blogger and activist Isaa Ahmed-Adnan encountered an unexpected problem. His popular Instagram account, which has more than 500,000 followers, began to suffer strange attacks: sponsored posts and videos published by him suddenly disappeared due to copyright violations.
Ahmed-Adnan carefully avoided using copyrighted music or other materials, so he was confused. One of the first deleted videos was a video in which the blogger talked about a local restaurant and tried various dishes. Then a similar fate overtook a post about a volunteer campaign to clean up the Tigris River.
Trying to understand the situation, the blogger contacted via WhatsApp with a person who claimed that it was he who complained to Instagram about the posts. He introduced himself as the owner of an intellectual property protection business and admitted that Ahmed-Adnan's posts did not violate anyone's copyright. However, the stranger offered to restore deleted content for $3,000, which is about the blogger's monthly income. As an alternative, a subscription to "protection" from such fake complaints was offered for $1,000 per month or $7,000 per year.
The source also sent a screenshot to explain what Ahmed-Adnan was up against. The screenshot showed the Meta Rights Manager tool, which helps content owners automatically identify infringing content so that this content can be removed from the platform. The image highlighted some of Ahmed-Adnan's content, as well as a request for deletion.
The problem, known as "copyright trolling," has spread widely across the Middle East. Meta, in turn, states that it regularly blocks accounts that abuse copyright management tools, but the real situation suggests otherwise. Scammers find ways to circumvent the system and profit from bona fide users.
Influencers in the region today complain that Meta makes it difficult to get legitimate access to Rights Manager and even rejects applications from owners of millions of accounts without explanation. A Meta spokesperson said the company is selective about candidates for the position of "rights manager" to "ensure that only legitimate rights holders have access to Rights Manager." But there was a black market that made it easier for the tool to fall into the wrong hands.
The Iraqi activist organization Tech4Peace is trying to help victims of such schemes. Tech4Peace, as part of Meta's Trusted Partner Network, has helped more than 100 victims. However, the process of restoring accounts often takes about a month, which is unacceptable for many influencers, for whom social networks are the main source of income.
Ahmed-Adnan was able to recover some of his content thanks to the intervention of Tech4Peace, but faced new waves of attacks, which led to significant financial losses. Ahmed-Adnan estimates his losses at $20,000.
According to Tech4Peace, such a scheme brought ransomware up to $1 million, and Meta "did not take action to prevent the problem." It is noted that the company should at least block IP addresses associated with the accounts of fraudsters. The victims of the scheme were hospitals, social activists, fashion models and other business owners.
Fraudsters who take advantage of the system's vulnerabilities not only profit from influencers, but also undermine the credibility of platforms that have become an important source of information and communication for millions of people in the region. This case highlights the need for greater control and improvement of user rights protection systems by large technology companies.
Source
