Videos featuring Elijah Wood and Priscilla Presley have appeared on Russian social networks. Photo: GETTY IMAGES; REUTERS
Celebrities were tricked into posting video messages that were turned into pro-Russian propaganda.
The videos were doctored to falsely suggest that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a drug addict.
The Latest Dirty the fraud was revealed by the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center.
At least five celebrities were identified: Elijah Wood from The Lord of the Rings; Elvis Presley's ex-wife Priscilla Presley; Breaking Bad actor Dean Norris; “The Office” actress Kate Flannery; “Scrubs” actor John McGinley and System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian
Everyone signed up for Cameo, a service that allows stars to record “personalized videos” to send to fans, such as birthday greetings .
None of the original videos are available for public viewing, and it is unknown who exactly doctored these videos.
But they appeared on VK, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, and Telegram, a popular platform in Russia based in Dubai.
Dean Norris stars in Breaking Bad Photo: AP
Videos show unsuspecting the actors send a message to “Vladimir” urging him to seek help for drug addiction.
In each of the videos reviewed by NBC, celebrities speak into the camera and talk about a man named “Vlad” who is suffering from drug addiction.
Mr. Zelensky is not mentioned in any of the videos by the celebrities themselves. This is done using overlaid text.
The videos were used by Russian media outlets, including Kremlin-friendly state agencies RIA Novosti, Sputnik and Rossiya-24.
Microsoft Since late July, analysts have viewed seven such videos.
According to a Microsoft report, Russia has been increasingly using video and “spoofing” mainstream Western media in recent months.
“Like previous propaganda campaigns, this activity aims to portray Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a corrupt drug addict. , and support for Kyiv by the West as damaging to the population of these countries.”
He added that the latest tactic “demonstrates a new approach by pro-Russian actors seeking to advance the narrative in the online information space.”
President Zelensky’s administration rejected the ploy.
“Russia has been leading information war – not only with Ukraine, but with the whole world at different levels,” the statement says.
“The civilized world and all corporations and companies that work with information in one way or another must be united before face this threat.”
The Telegraph has reached out to Cameo for comment.
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