BELGRADE -- Around one-third of the encrypted Telegram channels being used by Macedonian sellers to organize online sales of fake "Trump" debit cards have been deleted, two days after an RFE/RL investigation traced the digital footprints between pro-Trump Americans and a Balkan hub of fraud and disinformation.
The cards are part of a multimillion-dollar scam organized among closed chat groups for marketing alongside real and bogus news items designed to appeal to conservatives eager to see ex-President Donald Trump win reelection in November.
SEE ALSO: Made In Macedonia: Americans Lose Millions Buying Fake Donald Trump Debit CardsIn many cases, the sale of tokens, coins, and bills with Trump's likeness are predicated on hopes that a return to power would supercharge the value of such souvenir items or even make them legal currency.
Neither the Republican presidential hopeful nor any of his organizations appear to have any connection to the manufacturers, platforms, or sellers.
"On our return, we'll be three times stronger, don't worry," read a February 26 message on one of several closed Telegram groups where Macedonian speakers previously communicated to further the scheme.
The channel's owner has erased all its content and deactivated the platform.
Twenty-three of the 88 websites uncovered by a digital team from RFE/RL’s Balkan Service that infiltrated the closed Telegram groups have been shut down and payment options in 10 cases have been deactivated.
The network involved 69 individuals, two-thirds of them with digital trails placing them in Veles, a longtime center of "fake news" and inauthentic digital activity in North Macedonia.
Informed by RFE/RL of the transactions and the false claims by the sellers, Macedonian and U.S. law enforcement authorities have not commented directly.
Purchasing schemes frequently led buyers to the CopeCart payment platform, which is registered in the United States. CopeCart representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
RFE/RL also found that 33 Macedonian citizens who were selling cards or coins featuring Trump's likeness had withdrawn their products from the CopeCart platform.
Veles became synonymous with opportunism around the Trump movement ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, with more than 100 political websites there spreading fake news or appeals on particularly divisive topics.
SEE ALSO: 'Fake News' Sites In North Macedonia Pose As American Conservatives Ahead Of U.S. ElectionThe sites generated millions of views per month on Facebook.