Hamas Use Social Media Platforms To Extract Information From Troops, Says Israel Defense Forces
The IDF said that the operatives used photos of real women in a practice known as “catfishing,” and managed a kind of romantic relationship through correspondence, voice recordings and video calls, in an attempt to obtain information for Hamas.
Tel Aviv, November 2: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Thursday said that it has foiled a network of fake social media profiles that attempted to extract information from soldiers on behalf of the Hamas amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, media reports said.
The IDF said that the profiles were operated by ‘Axis of Resistance’ countries -- an informal coalition against Israel and Western nations -- led by Iran, Times of Israel reported. Israel-Hamas War: More Than 9,000 Palestinians Have Been Killed in Ongoing Conflict, Says Gaza Health Ministry.
The IDF said that the operatives used photos of real women in a practice known as “catfishing,” and managed a kind of romantic relationship through correspondence, voice recordings and video calls, in an attempt to obtain information for Hamas.
The IDF said that the faux social media profiles had additional fake profiles posing as their parents, siblings and friends, in order to strengthen their credibility, Times of Israel reported. Israel-Palestine War: Hamas Defensive Lines in Northern Gaza Continue To Collapse, Says IDF.
It said that the network consisted of dozens of fake profiles on social networks, mostly on Instagram, and the number of potential victims was between hundreds and thousands of soldiers, including reservists. IDF said that the Israeli authorities are working with social media sites to ban the accounts, the report said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 02, 2023 06:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).