Israel's Shin Bet has foiled an Iranian honeypot network that aimed to recruit unsuspecting Israeli civilians to gather intelligence and carry out terrorist attacks under the guise of criminal activity, Israeli intelligence announced Thursday.
The Iranian network reached out to Israelis through social media and employment websites. In Hebrew, English and Arabic, network employees introduced themselves as salespeople or real estate agents and, in some cases, searched for Israelis who expressed an interest in online dating.
The network also attempted to reach the families of fallen soldiers and Israelis taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.
Israeli civilians helped expand Iran's intelligence pool
The Israelis were then sent on paid reconnaissance missions in which they collected information about specific addresses and took photographs of locations of interest to the militants in order to expand the Islamic Republic's intelligence pool on Israel. A man holds up a poster of the late Iranian major. General Qassem Soleimani next to a burning Israeli flag as Iranians take part in a rally to mark the annual Quds Day or Jerusalem Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2022 (Credit: WANA NEWS AGENCY/Portal ). )
The Shin Bet said the tasks were assigned to civilians in such a way that they appeared harmless. Some of the Israelis who received such suspicious requests did not respond and brought them to the attention of security officials, the security agency added.
Israelis targeted by terror honeypot programs
Earlier this week, London-based anti-regime organization Iran International reported that the Islamic Republic sent a group of Hebrew-speaking women in the northern city of Mashad sexually explicit images to Israeli soldiers in an attempt to obtain information. Advertising
According to the report, the young women were trained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), spoke fluent Hebrew and contacted the soldiers via social media, sending them explicit videos and photos to obtain information.
According to reports, around 22 different profiles were created. The names and profiles were fake, but the photos and videos used were real.
Hamas has been using the same tactics for years to endanger the lives of soldiers or gain access to military information. In 2022, the IDF uncovered and foiled a Hamas network that was posing as young women on social media to defraud IDF soldiers.