US Election 2024 – FBI warning about fake election videos

The FBI has been also called in to investigate a separate episode with fake video purporting to show ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania. The video, which was posted on X, formerly Twitter, appears to show an individual checking mail-in ballots and ripping up votes for Donald Trump while keeping votes for Kamala Harris. Those sharing the video claim that it shows an employee at a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, polling place. The clip has received at least 155,000 views in around 12 hours on X. Many of the commenters have noted that it does not look realistic, although others appeared to believe it depicted real vote tampering. Prior to that, federal cybersecurity and intelligence officials said that a viral video purporting to show Haitian immigrants engaging in voter fraud was made by Russian interference groups that are trying to undermine confidence in U.S. elections. The video, which began circulating on social media this week, shows two men who claim they arrived to the U.S. from Haiti six months ago. They claim to have American citizenship and that they are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in multiple Georgia counties, showing cards that appear to look like drivers’ licenses. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly told MSNBC on Friday that the video was “Russian-produced and specifically designed to go viral and undermine American confidence in the security and the integrity of our election.” The experts warn about misinformation activity, “fake news” and influence campaigns.

Resecurity (USA), a Los Angeles-based cybersecurity company protecting Fortune 100 and government agencies worldwide, has detected a substantial increase in the distribution of political content related to the 2024 US elections through social media networks, particularly from foreign jurisdictions. Social media can create echo chambers where users are exposed primarily to information that reinforces their existing beliefs. This phenomenon can polarize public opinion, as individuals become less likely to encounter opposing viewpoints. Such environments can intensify partisan divides and influence voter behavior by solidifying biases. Resecurity identified multiple accounts for sale on Telegram impersonating government entities, including The White House, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as popular media outlets such as CNN and The Washington Post. One of the accounts impersonating Donald Trump, ‘DonaldTrump_feedback,’ was also put up for sale. Accounts under the name Kamala Harris were also offered for sale. The accounts were offered for sale on Fragment, a marketplace for Telegram accounts. Multiple Telegram accounts with the U.S. elections narrative have been identified; they have been registered and offered for sale between 10 TON ($51) and 2028 TON ($2290). Such accounts will be of great interest to political consultancies and foreign adversaries aiming to target a specific segment of the audience.

Currently, the accounts spread content designed to shape negative opinions about political candidates and discredit U.S. elections. Resecurity identified several associated groups promoting the “echo” narrative – regardless of the group’s main profile. For example, a group that aims to support the Democratic Party contained content of an opposite and discrediting nature. One of the foreign adversaries’ critical goals is to plant social polarization and distrust in electoral integrity. This is a crucial component of these campaigns. Often, these campaigns promote and discourage both candidates, as they do not intend to promote one candidate over the other. They plan to sow distrust in the election process and encourage animosity among the constituents of the losing candidate against the winning candidate and their supporters. Similar identified accounts are being used to target Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, and Maia Sandu, the President of Moldova.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, US Election 2024)