Thread by @omerbenj

SCOOP: We went undercover & discovered a secret disinformation-for-hire group called Team Jorge selling election interference, hack-and-leak & influence as a service. They claim to have meddled in 33 elections THREAD #TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo haaretz.com/israel-news/se…

tldr; Team Jorge are a 1-stop-shop of influence & psyops

Their business model: disinformation-as-a-service, or DaaS.

Their software: AIMS, an advanced system for creating and deploying fake accounts without detection

#TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo
haaretz.com/israel-news/se…

tldr; Over 6 secretly recorded meetings, they pitched their DaaS tech, boasted about past activities. For 6+ months 100+ reporters investigated their claims @Damien_Leloup @flornrnd @Kzalan @HoffHeiner @christo_buschek @romanlehberger @m_hoppenstedt @skirchy to name a few

The long story: @FbdnStories follows up on the work of journalists that are threatened or killed. They decided to bring together reporters from across the world to investigate the shady disinformation-for-hire industry
forbiddenstories.org/story-killers/…

After meeting in Paris, @GurMegiddo had an idea: We should pose as potential clients & try to get a meeting w these firms. Get them to pitch themselves @FredMetzo #teamjorge

The project, if anyone was crazy enough to take it on: Postpone an election in an African country without any reason.

And the disinfo industry said: HOLD MY BEER

#TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo

Sources linked us to middlemen, mediators put us in touch with door openers. None seem bothered by the fact we wanted to have a democratic election called of for no reason
#TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo

.@FredMetzo played a mild-mannered French consultant

I played the neurotic American

@GurMegiddo the ex-Israeli

More calls were made. After one key introduction, we were told to call Jorge.

Jorge and his team - aka #TeamJorge - we would soon learn have a lot of experience in election interference - and no lack of ideas @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo

Over the course of Zoom meetings, Team Jorge pitched their bundle of services. First, you collect “active intelligence on your targets” - this includes hacking into email and messaging accounts. These can later be leaked. #TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo

Some were playing out in front of our very eyes. We were shown the live Telegram account of a senior Kenyan official, now a serving minister. Jorge showed us how he could send messages from his target’s phone.

#TeamJorge @FredMetzo @GurMegiddo
haaretz.com/israel-news/se…

This is how disinfo tech looks and works from the inside

We got an inside look at the AIMS system >> thread continues