A cybercriminal network which created fake applications on behalf of state and public figures has been exposed, State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan told APA, Ednews informs.

A criminal case has been initiated at the Investigative head department of the State Security Service under Articles 272.2.1, 272.2.2 (Repeated unlawful seizure of computer data by an organized group), 273-2 (Forgery of computer data) and 178.3.1 (Fraud by an organized group) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan regarding the facts of cybercrime by creating fake videorecordings on behalf of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, other state and public figures through artificial intelligence programs – “deepfake” technologies and in this way the seizure of citizens' financial resources by spreading fake advertisements promising large amounts of profit from the State Oil Company (“SOCAR”), “Kapital Bank”, “International Bank of Azerbaijan” on various social networks,.

By carrying out complex investigations on the criminal case, the countries where cybercrimes were committed were identified, an international cybercriminal network was exposed within the framework of operative procedural cooperation with the relevant authorities of those states and the mentioned criminal acts were prevented.

 
It was determined that in numerous fake advertisements presented to the users of the Azerbaijani segment of the Internet with reference to the sites created by cybercriminals, citizens were invited to invest money in various investment projects, the image of a significant increase in the transferred funds was created on a regular basis, under the name of transferring the promised investment profit to the bank cards of the victims, as well as the latter's card information was obtained through cybercrime and the funds on those cards were seized.

Members of the international cybercriminal group, which seized large amounts of money from the citizens of Azerbaijan and other countries through similar criminal acts, were prosecuted by local law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan who participated in the commission of criminal acts of a transnational organized group - Zohrabov Rafiq Mahir oglu, born in 1998 and Niftaliyev Sardar Alikhan oglu, born in 1979, were brought to criminal responsibility in Azerbaijan, and by the decision of the court, preventive measures were taken against them.

At the moment, investigations into the criminal case and criminal-procedural measures resulting from international legal cooperation are ongoing.