Friday, 22 December 2023

Iran recruiting Israeli civilians for spying, accuses Shin Bet

Israel's Shin Bet foiled an Iranian honeypot network that aimed to recruit unsuspecting Israeli civilians to gather intelligence and commit terror attacks under the guise of criminal activities, the Israeli Security Agency announced Thursday.

The Iranian network turned to Israelis through social media and employment websites. Speaking in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, the network operatives introduced themselves as salespeople or real estate agents and, in some cases, sought out Israelis who expressed interest in online dating.

The network also attempted to reach out to families of fallen soldiers and Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 07.

The Israelis were then sent on paid reconnaissance missions, gathering information on certain addresses and taking photos of sites of interest to the operatives in an attempt to expand the Islamic Republic's intelligence pool on Israel.

The tasks were given to the civilians in a manner that made them appear harmless, the Shin Bet said. Some of the Israelis who received such suspicious inquiries avoided answering them, and alerted security officials about them, the security agency added.

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