Hackers’ plan to sell stolen passport of Belarusian leader as NFT on OpenSea fails
An Eastern European hacktivist group called Cyber Partisans of Belarus is trying to sell NFTs of passport information of autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko and his close associates. The NFT was sold on OpenSea on Lukashenko’s birthday, August 30, but on the same day he was delisted by OpenSea.
🧵1/3🔥For the first time in human history #hacktivist The group obtained passport information for citizens of all countries.Now we are offering you the opportunity to be a part of this history 😎. Get a unique digital edition of 😎. #lukashenka as a passport #NFTs https://t.co/gOlWdoUehi pic.twitter.com/RxdWpBqA8f
— Belarusian Cyberpartisans (@cpartisans) August 30, 2022
The NFT collection, called Belarisuan Passports, is based on information obtained from a hack into a government database that stores passport information for all Belarusian citizens. One of the NFTs depicts Lukashenko behind bars.
It is unclear if the information in the passport is genuine, as observers detected typos in the words “Republic” and “Alexander”.
The group, which described Lukashenko and his close allies as “traitors,” said the profits from the sale of NFTs would fund its fight against the Russian and Belarusian regimes.
Following the delisting event, the group said it was looking for alternatives, particularly Algogems and Rand Gallery.
A company spokesperson told Gizmodo that the initiative violates OpenSea’s policy on “disclosing another person’s personally identifiable information without permission.”
Lukashenko, who has been president of Belarus since 1994, is an authoritarian with 1,259 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Belarusian human rights group Vyasna.
In February, cyber partisans launched a fundraising campaign called the “Belarusian Resistance Movement”. The campaign aims to fund efforts to overthrow Lukashenko and call for donations in Bitcoin (BTC).
The group takes issue with the corrupt regime under Lukashenko and supports Russia’s war on Ukraine.
