Hackers Booted For Offering Belarusian Leader’s Stolen Passport For Sale

A group of eastern European hacktivists has been kicked off OpenSea after offering up the passport of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko as a non-fungible token (NFT). 

According to Gizmodo, the gang had stolen the information—allegedly along with information of all the country’s citizens—though it is unclear if this is actually true.

Yuliana Shemetovets, a spokesperson for the collective, said that the passport details had come from a hack on the Ministry of Internal Affairs in July 2021. 

Once informed, the NFT marketplace was quick to act, taking down the listings the same day.

OpenSea told the publication the offerings had violated its policy of “doxxing,” which includes “disabling buying and selling on violating content, delisting, and in some instances, banning accounts.” 

CyberScoop noted that the images of the passports that were uploaded onto the site weren’t actual scans of the documents, but rather mockups made using the stolen details. 

The site was told that the hacktivists had hoped to raise money to fund its fight against Lukashenko’s regime, and thought it was “an interesting way to get people’s attention and make them connected to what’s happening in Belarus.” 

🧵2/3 The dictator has a birthday today - help us ruin it for him! Get our work of art today. A special offer - a New Belarus passport for #lukashenka where he's behind the bars. Make it happen sooner while he's still alive😉#eastereggs pic.twitter.com/PNGCZHp5Gw

— Belarusian Cyber-Partisans (@cpartisans) August 30, 2022

[via Gizmodo and CyberScoop, cover image via Belarusian Cyber-Partisans]