The U.S. Department of Justice It has put an end to a scam affiliated with ISIS that seeks to sell fake non-public protective devices (PPE) through an online page and Facebook accounts, which researchers say is another new way for terrorists to benefit from the coronavirus pandemic. .
FaceMaskCenter.com, a now-defunct online page claiming to sell the FDA-approved N95 breathing mask and other requested PPE, contained all the features of a valid online store, adding credit card acceptance. The online page stated that it was “the first online supplier of non-public protective devices and the first of its kind” since its inception in 1996, when the site was created on February 26, 2020.
The online page has been seized through the Department of Justice and visitors are now greeted with an official warning and a phone number to call if they have been victims of the scam.
It is not transparent if someone buys EPI on the online page; However, when a visitor from the U.S. He contacted the online page to acquire a mask for lifeguards, a Syrian citizen living in Turkey responded by saying that he could “easily supply up to 100,000 N95 masks, which he claims to have in his possession.” according to the Justice Department’s complaint.
A review of the face mask to be sold indicates that the PPE was manufactured in Turkey and has not been qualified through U.S. agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.
The complaint in particular names Murat Cakar, a type from Turkey classified as an “IS facilitator”.
Cakar, who according to investigators may be just another alias, is accused of executing the plan and accepting $100,000 from Zoobia Shahnaz, an American who pleaded guilty in 2018 to financially support ISIS and make an attempt to have Syria join the terrorist. Organization. Cakar, according to a “reliable and confidential source” from the Ministry of Justice, also played a key role in Daesh’s piracy operations.
Researchers who have studied terrorist organizations say that while online scams are a new concept for IS members, their technique to merit the PPE application is unique.
Chelsea Daymon, an associate researcher at the Global Internet Forum for Combating Terrorism and a researcher at American University, first discovered that ISIS supporters were discussing coronavirus on their social media in mid-January.
“It’s a new turning point because historically, since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve noticed that ISIS uses COVID-19 for more propaganda purposes, spreading things that have to do with its ideology or demonizing Americans who are perceived as their enemies,” Daymon said.
“So we saw a more narrative and propaganda use of the virus, and as the virus continued, we saw Daesh use the virus to its merit on the ground in Syria and Iraq… or in the last few months. There has been an accumulation in the number of attacks while governments are paying attention elsewhere,” Daymon added.
ISIS affiliates have used the COVID-19 pandemic as a message and have incorporated it into their propaganda communications in social media programs such as Telegram, Rocket.chat and Twitter.
Many of these topics included graphs and graphs of the number of coronavirus-related deaths to celebrate the death toll. ISIS supporters also claimed that coronavirus was deliberately created in a laboratory and spread through non-believers.
Some of his stories also echoed unfounded conspiracy theories spread through U.S.-based far-right teams: That any long-term vaccine opposed to coronavirus would cause autism, a government tactic, or a corporate for-profit campaign. According to Daymon’s research, some of the supporters also claimed that a possible vaccination would be a Western plot to kill Muslims.
Hundreds of coronavirus-like messages compiled from those messaging platforms that about a quarter of them were similar to death updates; 16% were similar to the divine punishment of non-believers; and 11% were similar to mood and conspiracy theories.
It is not known if there are others related to SI that are benefiting from the pandemic. But Daymon points out that the group, like other terrorist organizations, will benefit from global events for its destructive purposes.
“It’s no wonder because I think any extremist organization will use any opportunity for its own benefit,” Daymon said. “And the pandemic has been pretty clever for this for many teams in many spectra, because it literally fits into other narratives and ideologies: this concept that ‘society is collapsing, so you must be in the right aspect of the story.'”
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