US Sends Millions Of Text Messages To Russia And Iran Offering $10 Million Reward For Election Hacking Info

August 7, 2020 Russia, Trump Administration

The New York Times reports:

The United States government on Thursday became, for a brief moment, one of the biggest and perhaps most annoying telemarketers in Russia.

Seeking to publicize new rewards of up to $10 million for information about people trying to attack American voting systems, the State Department sent text messages to cellphones in Russia as well as Iran.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian government, ridiculed the message, which she said had appeared on many Russian cellphones. The program would yield nothing for the United States government, she predicted, and was more than just annoying to Russians.

Reuters reports:



Written in Farsi, the messages in Iran say: “The United States pays up to $10 million for any information on foreign interference in American elections.” They carry a link to the U.S. Rewards for Justice Program, which offers cash bounties in return for information on threats to American national security.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters the U.S. was now offering up to $10 million “for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with U.S. elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities.”

The State Department did not have an immediate comment on the Iranian text messages. The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a question about the texts.

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