Russians spread fake news that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 players' data is being transferred to Ukrainian government

Journalists worldwide have been emailed a fake video claiming to be from WIRED, a world-renowned technology-themed magazine. The video claims that GSC Game World is collecting data from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 players and passing it on to the Ukrainian government. The video is also being widely shared on Telegram channels. 

Source: 404 Media

Details: According to 404 Media, the fake video says that "[the] Ukrainian game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 helps the government locate citizens suitable for mobilisation". It also claims that "an embedded program was discovered in the game’s code that collects player data and transmits it to the developer’s servers. The program collects data about the device, name, IP address and current location of the player. The information is transmitted every second."

Of course, the video has nothing to do with WIRED. In the best traditions of fake news, the video merely shows some footage from the game and an incomprehensible piece of code that randomly selects a date or platform.

The French news agency AFP, along with many other media outlets, received the fake video and dubbed it "Operation Matryoshka". Researchers from the Digital Forensic Research Lab say the goal of such operations is to flood Telegram and social media with false and low-quality materials and distract journalists from some other issue. The Russians simply cannot accept the fact that a Ukrainian video game is being played and talked about all over the world.

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