Shin Bet reveals Iranian attempts to spy on Israeli defense officials via fake social media pages

The Shin Bet security agency reveals attempts by Iranian intelligence services to spy on Israeli defense officials and gather information on civilians by using fake social media pages relating to the ongoing war and the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Shin Bet, Iranian operatives, using fake online profiles, tasked Israelis with photographing the residences of Israeli defense officials and other officials who appear frequently in the media and speak out against Iran publicly.

Using fictitious social media pages and websites, the Iranian operatives also initiated gatherings near the homes of the families of the Hamas-held hostages and had bouquets of flowers and messages sent to their homes, the Shin Bet says.

The agency says that the Iranian operatives took advantage of the protests to release the hostages by having Israelis hang signs relating to the issue that had been written by them, as well as asking them to photograph the demonstrators.

The pages also asked Israelis to fill out surveys, which would require victims to give out personal information. The Shin Bet says this was an attempt to collect further information on Israeli civilians, to later use them to carry out various tasks.

The social media profiles, on Instagram, Telegram, and TikTok, included pages posing as those of far-right activists and supporters of the hostages, as well as a page by the name of Kan+, impersonating the Kan public broadcaster.