Simple Photoshoping: How a Pakistani counterfeiter helped Russian trolls

 

Amid US sanctions on Russian cybersecurity companies and officials for allegedly working for the Kremlin's intelligence services, a company was set up on Thursday: Fresh Air Farm House, Karachi, Pakistan.

The farmhouse, which has a water park on its Facebook page that appears to be available for rent for the holidays, is run by 34-year-old Mohsin Raza, one of the two founders of the online fake identity business. Prosecutors say it helped Russian operators gain a foothold in the United States.

Mohsin Raza committed a digital identity forgery, according to a US Treasury Department statement and an indictment released this week by federal prosecutors in New Jersey.

In it, they created images of fake driver's licenses, fake passports and fake utility bills to get their customers certified by US companies and technology firms.

Mohsin Raza has been charged with six counts, including forging documents and concealing his identity.

Reuters reached Pakistan on the telephone number on the list of sanctions provided by the US Treasury Department. Mohsin confirmed his identity and admitted to being a digital counterfeiter, saying he used "simple Photoshop" to make ID cards, bills and other documents acceptable.

Mohsin Raza said he was interested in graphic designing, e-commerce and cryptocurrency but denied any wrongdoing.

 "They are only helping people who have been frozen access to their accounts," he said.

According to the New Jersey indictment, one of his clients was a notorious Russian troll, an employee of an Internet research agency.

He was involved in attempts to interfere in the US election, according to US investigators, media reports, documents, and informants.

 According to the indictment, an Internet research agency employee hired Raza in 2017 to obtain fake driver's licenses and verify fake accounts on Facebook.

Facebook did not immediately comment. Mohsin Raza says he does not know who used his services.

"His interest in the business started many years ago when he opened a PayPal account under a pseudonym that was locked," he said. What they opened with a pseudonym was locked, and hundreds of dollars were lost.

Mohsin Raza did not refuse to describe it as 'hard-earned money, he photoshopped the identity document under his pseudonym. Once PayPal broke his frozen account, here he realized that his idea was good and from there the business started.

When Mohsin Raza closed his site Second Eye Solutions on Thursday morning, he had more than 6,000 customers.

Mohsin Raza said that he used the money earned from the business of fake identity to build a free air farmhouse.

"The farmhouse has three bedrooms, a playground, a water slide, and a barbecue space," he said.

The farmhouse is now on the US list of Russia's top figures and defense contractors, as well as various banned organizations.

"Mohsin Raza's business is an example of how international cybercrime works under state auspices," said Tom Holt of Michigan State University's School of Criminal.