Residents of Russia began to receive SMS about a way to get $10 million from the US State Department. In the messages, Russians are offered this money for information about the interference of Russian hackers in the American elections.
Such SMS messages are published by residents of different cities in Russia in social networks. Among them the Deputy of the Duma of Yekaterinburg Timofey Zhukov. In the Telegram channel, he published a screenshot of such a message. "The US State Department is offering up to $10 million for information about interference in the US election. If you have information, please contact us,” said the SMS.
The link in the message leads to a verified Twitter account of the US State Department's Rewards for Justice program. According to the hashtag of the same name, Election_Reward, dozens of messages of the Department's program were published on Twitter in different languages of the world, including Russian.
Experts noted that the message was sent to Russians through the program CentrSoobsh — a service that is usually used to send spam or fake SMS in order to hack accounts by fraudsters.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the start of this program. He promised that Washington will pay the amount for information about persons interfering in the elections. Pompeo mentioned that the program applies to both Russia and other malicious states.
The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, considered that if the US really begins to pay everyone up to 10 million dollars for such information, the state Department's website "will break down from denunciations to neighbors."
Senator of the Federation Council Frants Klintsevich called such actions an illusion and provocation, which carry a danger. He added that the messages are sent not by the US, but by emissaries with money.
According to him, it is necessary to find those who send messages, to bring everything to its logical end. Moreover, if necessary, the Russian Federation need s to change the legislation, as such actions are trying to destabilize the situation in the country.
