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Law enforcement officers stopped another attempt to interfere in the US elections.
The FBI confiscated 32 domains that were used by the Doppelgänger influence network in a disinformation campaign aimed at American audiences in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election.
The seized domains were used to spread propaganda supporting foreign policies, including attempts to influence election results in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Israel, and other countries.
The campaign used cybersquatting (including typosquatting), fake influencers, and fake profiles to covertly promote false narratives created by artificial intelligence. According to the Ministry of Finance, Doppelgänger operators secretly hired American influencers through shell companies.
The materials targeted specific groups in the U.S. with the aim of undermining the election process. The targets were Republican voters, supporters of Donald Trump, adherents of traditional family values and white middle-class Americans.
Among the confiscated domains were the likes of "washingtonpost.pm" and "spiegel.agency," which mimicked popular news sites. The group also created its own media brands to spread disinformation. Doppelgänger actively used social media and paid advertising to promote its websites. Fake profiles posing as Americans or citizens of other countries published links to fake resources, misleading users.
The network used VPNs and servers in the United States to hide its origins. The accounts were expected to attract between 30,000 and 50,000 followers within three months and between 100,000 and 200,000 within six months. Within a year, the campaign hoped to attract more than 1 million citizens.
Earlier it became known that from the beginning of June to the end of July 2024, cybercriminals conducted a series of information operations codenamed "Double". Campaigns were especially active during the unexpected early elections in France, which was the reason for the study.
Operations Double were first publicly exposed in 2022 and are manipulative actions in the information sphere, where operators use social media and media to spread disinformation. The main method is to imitate popular news sites in order to spread fake news.
Source
The FBI confiscated 32 domains that were used by the Doppelgänger influence network in a disinformation campaign aimed at American audiences in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election.
The seized domains were used to spread propaganda supporting foreign policies, including attempts to influence election results in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Israel, and other countries.
The campaign used cybersquatting (including typosquatting), fake influencers, and fake profiles to covertly promote false narratives created by artificial intelligence. According to the Ministry of Finance, Doppelgänger operators secretly hired American influencers through shell companies.
The materials targeted specific groups in the U.S. with the aim of undermining the election process. The targets were Republican voters, supporters of Donald Trump, adherents of traditional family values and white middle-class Americans.
Among the confiscated domains were the likes of "washingtonpost.pm" and "spiegel.agency," which mimicked popular news sites. The group also created its own media brands to spread disinformation. Doppelgänger actively used social media and paid advertising to promote its websites. Fake profiles posing as Americans or citizens of other countries published links to fake resources, misleading users.
The network used VPNs and servers in the United States to hide its origins. The accounts were expected to attract between 30,000 and 50,000 followers within three months and between 100,000 and 200,000 within six months. Within a year, the campaign hoped to attract more than 1 million citizens.
Earlier it became known that from the beginning of June to the end of July 2024, cybercriminals conducted a series of information operations codenamed "Double". Campaigns were especially active during the unexpected early elections in France, which was the reason for the study.
Operations Double were first publicly exposed in 2022 and are manipulative actions in the information sphere, where operators use social media and media to spread disinformation. The main method is to imitate popular news sites in order to spread fake news.
Source
