Belarusian hackers claim access to every citizen’s passport information, including President Alexander Lukashenko’s, allowing them to mint an NFT with his passport details.
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans are hacktivists attempting to sell a nonfungible token (NFT) containing purported passport information for Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. According to the Belarusian Cyber Partisans, the move is part of a grassroots fundraising effort to combat “bloody regimes in Minsk and Moscow.”
The group of hackers also tried to sell the
The members claim to have hacked into a government database containing every Belarusian citizen’s passport information, allowing them to launch an NFT collection called Belarisuan Passports, which includes a digital passport allegedly containing Lukashenko’s essential information.
Because of a typo on the front page of the word “Republic” and a misspelling of “Aleksandr,” some observers have accused the information on the digital passport of being forged. The hackers claimed on Twitter that they attempted to sell the NFT collection on Tuesday, Lukashenko’s birthday, through the OpenSea marketplace. However, they stated that the sale was promptly canceled and that they are now considering other options:
“Today is the dictator’s birthday; help us ruin it for him! Purchase our work of art today. A special offer—a new Belarus passport for Lukashenko while he is imprisoned.”
According to an OpenSea spokesperson, the project violated company rules regarding “doxxing and revealing personal identifying information about another person without their consent.” The Belarusian Cyber Partisans also revealed that they intend to sell NFTs containing the passport information of other government officials close to Lukashenko.
“We also provide passports to his closest allies and traitors to the peoples of #Belarus and #Ukraine. All funds will be used to support our work in targeting bloodthirsty regimes in #minsk and #moscow,” the group wrote.
Lukashenko is a divisive figure who has been in power in Belarus since the country’s inception in 1994.
Despite being elected on the promise of eradicating corruption, he has been accused of “rigging elections, torturing critics, and arresting and beating protesters” in the past by organizations such as the Organize Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The hacktivists claim to be vehemently opposed to what they perceive to be a corrupt regime led by Lukashenko, who has also irritated the group by supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In February, the Belarusian Cyber Partisans launched a more extensive fundraising campaign called the “Resistance Movement of Belarus,” intending to usurp power from Lukashenko through its own self-defense forces.
The campaign primarily accepts donations from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).
“We, the free citizens of Belarus, refuse to submit to this state and have formed a people’s defense in response to the unleashed terror. Our ultimate goal is to bring down the dictatorial regime,” the group stated.
