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Stolen identity information obtained by several Russian defendants named in Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s indictment, released last week, was used to create fraudulent PayPal Holdings Inc. accounts. The defendants were named in connection with alleged activities surrounding the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment provides details about an alleged conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud. Beginning in at least 2016, the indictment states, the defendants used Social Security numbers, home addresses, and birth dates of U.S. residents to set up accounts with PayPal and at banks. Some of these accounts were used to pay for Facebook Inc. ads.
These accounts also were used to receive money from U.S. residents in exchange for posting promotions and ads on social media pages controlled by the Internet Research Agency LLC, the company the defendants worked for.
“Defendants and their co-conspirators also established other accounts at PayPal in the names of false and fictitious U.S. personas,” the legal document said. “Some personas used to register PayPal accounts were the same as the false U.S. personas used in connection with the [Internet Research Agency’s] social media account.”
To circumvent security measures at PayPal, which used account numbers to verify a user’s identity, the defendants purchased credit card and bank-account numbers online, the indictment said.
In a statement, PayPal said it “is intensely focused on combatting and preventing the illicit use of our services. We worked closely with Special Counsel during this matter to identify, investigate and stop improper or potentially illegal activity.”
