Residents of Russia began to receive SMS-messages on behalf of the US State Department with an offer to receive $ 10 million. To do this, it is necessary to provide the American authorities with essential information regarding the “interference of Moscow” in the American elections.
The Znak.com portal and a number of Telegram channels drew attention to the distribution of messages. In particular, a screenshot of such an SMS was published by the deputy of the Yekaterinburg Duma Timofey Zhukov. “The US State Department is offering up to $ 10 million for information on interference in the US elections. If you have any information, please contact us, ”the message says.
The hardwired link in the message leads to a verified Twitter account of the US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice Program. Observers also noted that by the hashtag Election_Reward (Elections_Rewards), you can find dozens of messages from the department in different languages of the world, including Russian.
Since 2016, the American authorities have been trying to find traces of alleged Russian interference in the presidential elections, which, according to representatives of the Democratic Party, predetermined the victory of Republican Donald Trump. To investigate this issue, a special group was created under the leadership of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, which looked for traces of Russian interference from May 2017 to March 2019 but did not find sufficient evidence to bring charges against Trump, although five of his associates pleaded guilty to various crimes and were sentenced to different terms.
