Washington:Â When Mohamad first got the text message offering him up to $US10 million ($13.8 million) for information about attempts to interfere with the US election, he thought it was “some kind of cyber attack.”
But when the Tehran-based software developer logged on to Twitter he realised he was one of an unknown number of Iranian citizens who have received out-of-the-blue messages promoting the US State Department’s recently announced effort to defend the American presidential election.
Russian media reported that Russian citizens also received similar messages on Thursday.
It was not clear who is behind the text messages, which began surfacing online as bewildered recipients posted screenshots and photographs of the messages to Twitter and chat service Telegram.
Mohamed, who spoke with Reuters on condition that he be identified only by his first name, said he was among those who found the messages mystifying.
Written in Farsi, the Iran text messages say: “The United States pays up to $10 million for any information on foreign interference in American elections.” They carry a link to the US Rewards for Justice Program, which offers cash bounties in return for information on threats to American national security.
Read the article by Raphael Satter in The Sydney Morning Herald.