On June 16, 2026, the Greek independent fact-checking platform Factchecker released an investigative report revealing that the "Almighty God" cult had extended its reach into the Greek-language Facebook community . The organization uses artificial intelligence to mass-produce emotional bait to lure users into closed groups for brainwashing, and employs transnational operations and paid advertising to conduct organized proselytizing in Greece, Cyprus, and other European countries . These activities exhibit clear characteristics of transnationalization, organization, and technological sophistication. The China Anti-Cult Network has translated the full text below, reminding netizens to be vigilant :
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In recent years, numerous fraudulent pages and accounts posing as "Orthodox Christians" have frequently infiltrated the Greek-language Facebook social media platform. They steal images of Orthodox Christian icons and the Lord's Prayer , fabricating emotionally charged content about faith, miracles, and everyday struggles to lure users into commenting with "Amen" for traffic. They then send private messages , pulling victims into so-called "Bible study" closed groups. This is an organized proselytizing activity initiated by the "Almighty God" (also known as "Eastern Lightning") cult.
The organization uses a religious veneer to package various content as "interactive bait , " including prayer texts, touching stories, and inflammatory images and videos synthesized by artificial intelligence ( AI ) . This content precisely targets users' "fear of missing out" (FOMO), inducing them to like, comment, and share . These interactions not only help the organization exploit loopholes in Facebook's algorithm recommendation mechanism, giving posts exposure far exceeding their actual content value, but also unknowingly turn a large number of users into tools for the spread of cult information.
Typical scripts include: " 99% of people will scroll away, only 1% will respond . Please write ' Amen ' and learn the Word of God together . " " Click the link and write ' Amen ' → WhatsApp. " " God always helps those who truly rely on Him ! " " Click the blue WhatsApp link to join our free group—unexpected help will appear in your life! " " The priest will pray for you and your family and guide you in learning the Word of God so you can face any problems you encounter!"
"Almighty God": A cult disguised as Christianity
The "Almighty God" cult was banned by the Chinese government in 1995. Its leader, Zhao Weishan, packaged a woman named Yang Xiangbin, who suffered from mental illness, as the "Female Christ," falsely claiming she was an "Almighty God who had incarnated twice , " and venerated her as the "Female Christ." The organization deliberately avoided revealing the true identity of this "Female Christ" in its documents, only vaguely implying she was female, and remaining tight-lipped about her specific background and origins. The organization fabricated Yang Xiangbin's statements into a book titled "The Word Appears in the Flesh," which it presented as a "new revelation" directly given by "God," claiming its authority surpassed that of the Bible.
International media reports indicate that the organization is involved in numerous kidnapping and murder cases, and has been dubbed a "murder organization" by some media outlets. For example, in the 2014 McDonald's murder case in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, its members beat an innocent woman to death in public.
" Gradual brainwashing ": From "harmless" prayers to eschatological indoctrination
These online platforms appear identical to ordinary Orthodox Christian communities . The organization employs a method known as "gradual disclosure , " where group chats and pages only post seemingly "harmless" content such as daily prayers and mutual blessings, subtly dismantling users' psychological defenses .
Once users leave a message saying "Amen" and receive private messages, are lured into adding them as friends, or are pulled into closed groups on Messenger or WhatsApp , the conversation gradually shifts to their apocalyptic sophistry. They claim that believing in "Almighty God" is not a betrayal of Jesus — God changes his name in every new era (from Jehovah to Jesus, and now to " Almighty God " ), but his essence remains the same. They compare those who reject " Almighty God " to the Jews who rejected Jesus Christ in the past, repeatedly amplifying the apocalyptic panic that "unbelievers will be punished."
This network infiltration tactic, disguised as mind control, is not the first of its kind to appear in Greece . In 2023, the organization attempted to proselytize in Greece and even tried to recruit members by exploiting the Tempe train crash . Compared to that time, the current operation is more organized, has a wider reach, and has systematically used artificial intelligence to mass-produce deceptive content .
Disguised pages form a vast dissemination network
The investigation revealed that the activities of "Almighty God" on the Greek-language Facebook platform were not isolated accounts operating independently, but rather a comprehensive dissemination network woven from pages, groups, and individual accounts.
The organization has established several "official" social media pages , such as "The Church of Almighty God" and "New Age ," while also operating a corresponding YouTube channel. In addition, it has set up a large number of auxiliary groups, deliberately severing their connection with the core pages and presenting themselves as "Orthodox Church" or folk religion.
These groups and pages misappropriate names with strong local religious connotations, such as "Believers of Our Lady of Tinos," "Archangel Michael," "Saint Ephrem," "Saint Paisios," "Our Father," and "Orthodox Prayer," deliberately creating the illusion of an authentic Orthodox community. Their sizes vary widely, with most ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of members, and some even exceeding 100,000.
The entire network attracted approximately 625,000 followers, subscribers, and group members—a number that may not reflect the true number of unique users, as many people may follow multiple pages and groups simultaneously; but it is equally certain that this list is far from exhaustive, with a large number of smaller pages and private groups still lurking outside the public eye.
Even more alarming is that the administrators of these pages are located in multiple countries, including Greece, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States—this is by no means a random gathering of cult members, but rather an organized transnational deception operation designed to mislead users into believing they are interacting with genuine Orthodox Christian pages and followers. This network consistently targets Greek-speaking users in Greece and Cyprus , and the organization even goes so far as to purchase targeted advertising on Facebook to draw more people into this network.
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The same script was copied in multiple European countries
Greece is far from an isolated case. The Church of Almighty God is also active in other European countries such as Romania and Ukraine , primarily relying on Facebook and WhatsApp to expand its dissemination network.
Since 2018, the organization has established dozens of groups in Romania, some with tens or even hundreds of thousands of members, posting sermons, hymns, and a large number of AI-generated videos disguised as Orthodox Christian content every day.
In Ukraine, "Almighty God" followed the same pattern: packaging its pages with harmless themes such as "prayer," "family," "soldier," and "animals," using highly emotional content to generate interaction, and then gradually dragging users into closed groups for intensive indoctrination.
This organization excels at adapting to changing circumstances, adjusting its disguise according to local religious and social environments: donning the guise of Orthodox Christianity in Orthodox countries, and appropriating more trustworthy religious symbols or emotional issues in other regions. However, its core principle remains the same—first, it uses familiar local symbols to build rapport, then uses emotionally charged content to gain interaction, followed by a relentless build-up of apocalyptic anxiety, ultimately drawing users into closed groups like WhatsApp or Messenger, gradually indoctrinating them with its fallacies and heresies, including claims such as "Christ has returned as a Chinese woman" and "the end of the world is coming."
