IDF exposes fake social media profiles that Hezbollah used to gather military intel
Army says some of the fictitious accounts set up by Lebanese terror group presented themselves as soldiers to build relationships with Israeli troops
The IDF said on Wednesday that it had uncovered at least 17 fake social media profiles operated by the Hezbollah terror group in a plot to gather intelligence on the military.
The profiles, uncovered by the IDF’s Information Security Department, tried to trick soldiers into revealing sensitive information about their location in bases and troop locations, the military said.
The IDF said some of the profiles presented themselves as soldiers, and the Hezbollah operatives, using the fake profiles, would build personal relationships with troops over social media apps with messages, audio recordings, and video calls.
The profiles uncovered by the IDF were: tanya_ohayon_12, ilana.ed, zyzu744, noorr.levi, ohana.norit, nitzanlevi604, annadayan22, natali8karmi, nicole.pz_66, _vanessar.94_, shira._.151, eden_cohen_9, shirashitts, christinadss1256, galavivi7, avilevi_330, and eve_henry89.
The majority of the profiles were still active on Instagram as of Thursday evening.
The case was the latest instance of Israeli security forces uncovering plots by Iran and its proxies to gain Israeli intelligence or recruit unknowing Israelis via fake social media profiles.
Israeli security forces have also foiled similar attempts by Hamas to use fake social media platforms to gain intelligence on troop movements in Gaza in the last year or recruit Israelis to carry out tasks for the terrorist organization.
