Hackers attempt to sell the NFT of the leader of Belarus stolen passport
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans, a gang of hacktivists, have been attempting to sell a nonfungible token (NFT) with what they claim to be Alexander Lukashenko's passport information.
The action, according to the Belarusian Cyber Partisans, is a component of a grassroots funding drive to oppose "bloody governments in Minsk and Moscow."
The group's members assert to have gained access to a government database containing every citizen of Belarus' passport information, enabling them to introduce the Belarisuan Passports NFT collection, which includes a digital passport purported to include real information about Lukashenko.
🧵1/3🔥For the 1st time in human history a #hacktivist collective obtained passport info of the ALL country's citizens. Now we're offering you an opportunity to become a part of this history 😎. Get a unique digital version of #lukashenka passport as #NFT https://t.co/gOlWdoUehi pic.twitter.com/RxdWpBqA8f
— Belarusian Cyber-Partisans (@cpartisans) August 30, 2022
Due to a misspelling of "Aleksandr" and a typographical error in the word "Republic" on the top page, some observers have claimed that the information on the digital passport is false.
On Tuesday, on the occasion of Lukashenko's birthday, the hackers said they tried to sell the NFT collection on the OpenSea market. However, they claimed that the deal was swiftly terminated and that they are currently considering other options:
"Help us make the dictator's birthday miserable; he has a birthday today! Get our creation right away. A special offer was made—a new Belarus passport for Lukashenko, who is currently incarcerated.
The initiative violated OpenSea policies about "doxxing and exposing personal identifiable information about another person without their knowledge," a company spokeswoman told Gizmodo.
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans also disclosed that they intended to sell NFTs containing the passport data of other senior government figures with ties to Lukashenko.
We also provide the passports of his closest allies and betrayers among the Belarusian and Ukrainian people. The entire donation will support our efforts to overthrow brutal governments in Minsk and Moscow, the group added.
Quite a controversial person, Lukashenko has been in charge of Belarus since its founding in 1994. Organize Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, among others, have accused him of "rigging elections, torturing critics, and arresting and beating protesters" in the past, despite the fact that he was elected on the promise of outlawing corruption.
The hacktivists claim to be adamantly opposed to Lukashenko's allegedly corrupt government. The organization has also taken issue with Lukashenko for his support of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The "Resistance Movement of Belarus" is a larger fundraising initiative that The Belarusian Cyber Partisans started in February with the intention of eventually ousting Lukashenko using its own self-defense forces. Donations to the cause are mostly made through digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC).
"As a people's reaction to the terror that has been unleashed, we, the free inhabitants of Belarus, form the self-defence and refuse to bow to this state. The group wrote, "The overthrow of the totalitarian dictatorship is our ultimate goal.