Shin Bet: Gaza operatives try to ‘catfish’ Israelis with fake social media accounts
Agency says terror elements in Strip operated Facebook and Instagram accounts using photos of real Israeli women, in attempt to harm Israelis
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Terror operatives from the Gaza Strip attempted to contact and harm Israelis by posing as young Israeli women on social media, the Shin Bet security agency said Monday.
According to the Shin Bet, the operatives used photos of real Israeli women, in an attempt to “lure Israeli citizens into contact, with the aim of harming them,” a practice known as “catfishing.”
The Shin Bet said some of the recent profiles on Facebook and Instagram were ostensibly of a personal trainer by the name of Maria David or Maria Shimon.
The profiles were removed from the platform following requests made to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, by the Shin Bet and the cyber division at the State Attorney’s Office.
“Terror elements use social networks and operate fictitious profiles to fool innocent citizens, in a way that poses a threat to their privacy and personal security,” the Shin Bet said in a statement.
It was not clear if the operatives had managed to make contact with any Israelis.
The Shin Bet did not name the terror group allegedly behind the fake accounts.
Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip in recent years have repeatedly tried to “catfish” Israelis, notably soldiers, in order to install software on their phones that the terror group could use to gather intelligence on the military.
