Are they undercover cops? Are they phishing scams? Or are they attempts to sow racial division?
And Dr. Kathleen Carley, a professor with the Institute for Software Research at Carnegie Mellon University, has yet another plausible answer: “This looks like a coordinated attempt at provoking harm,” she says. “There may be multiple motivations: to sow dissension, to increase polarization, to encourage racial prejudice. All of these are achieved by these messages.”joined the Telegram channel the Twitter bots all direct to, it contained just one message promising a sale at the end of that week.
Nichols points out that current regulations require “someone who is engaged in the business of dealing in firearms to obtain a license, maintain records of sales, and conduct background checks on gun purchasers,” and the interstate sale of handguns is prohibited. Although not every gun seller needs a license under federal law, she says, this person appears to be “conducting gun sales frequently enough to be subject to the federal licensing requirement.
As further proof of legitimacy, the Telegram user also posted an image of a website for “Bido’s Gun Shop,” their supposed store in Norfolk. But it’s an obvious copy of the website for a real business in the area, Bob’s Gun Shop, with the name and contact information changed. There is no Bido’s Gun Shop.
Dowdy also dismisses the Telegram user’s claims of buying guns in bulk, then reselling and shipping them around the country. “It’s a totally fake business, they don’t exist except on the internet,” he says. “Total phishing scam.”
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