The FBI reportedly ran a fake encrypted communications network for years to coax criminals into using it and exposing their secrets regarding murder, drug smuggling, and money laundering.
The Justice Department is now charging the people who worked for the fake encrypted communications company called ‘Anom,’ who used their position as criminal ‘influencers’ to persuade other fugitives to use Anom phones, according to unsealed court records obtained by Motherboard.
The Justice Department is not only charging the criminals who sent incriminating messages regarding drug trafficking and corruption but is also charging those who worked for Anom, even if they did not know it was secretly run by the FBI.
The Justice Department is pressing charges against people in Australia, Spain, Colombia, Thailand, Sweden, Turkey, Finland, and the Netherlands under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The law has historically been used to catch mafia bosses.
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“Anom has generated the Defendants millions of dollars in profit by facilitating the criminal activity of transnational criminal organizations and protecting these organizations from law enforcement,” DOJ’s indictment reads.
Anom is an encrypted phone provider that sells its services for $1,400 per device to transnational criminal organizations to facilitate illegal activity. The company had 9,500 devices worldwide, including in the United States, after beginning its operations in October 2019.
Anom employees told users the devices and their network were “designed by criminals for criminals,” the indictment said, and falsely stated that the company was not subject to U.S. laws such as the government surveillance Patriot Act.
This increased trust in Anom as a secure platform for illegal activities that criminals wanted a safe harbor to communicate about, the indictment added.
