Iran is using fake online profiles to gather intelligence in Israel, the Shin Bet revealed on Monday. Among its tactics are operations to photograph the homes of security personnel and of public figures who oppose Iran in the media. Public demonstrations for the hostages’ return are used as a platform to photograph participants.
Iranian operatives are also targeting the families of hostages via fake expressions of grief, such as sending bouquets of flowers and messages to the families’ homes, the Shin Bet revealed. Other means of intelligence-gathering include fake survey prompts and volunteer forms, used to gather information on people’s personal details and skill-sets.
The following online platforms were revealed by the Shin Bet as fronts for Iranian intelligence:
Tears of the War: a platform that spreads ‘disinformation and incitement,’ presented as as tool to recruit Israelis for activism on behalf of hostages, along with fake job postings.
Here+: A platform that poses as a research and survey platform, using a logo that appears to be based on that of Israel’s Channel 11. The platform is believed to use phishing to collect personal details of Israelis.
BringHomeNow: a platform active mostly on Telegram, posing as a movement for the return of the hostages, using false volunteer forms to collect Israelis’ personal information.
Several other fake platforms have been identified, the Shin Bet said, that purport to align with different political movements and are designed to deepen divides in Israeli society.
Israeli organization ‘FakeReporter’ responds
Israeli organization ‘Fake Reporter’ responds
FakeReporter is an Israeli watchdog organization that exposes false reporting, bots, and similar activities online. Since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas, the organization claims to have exposed several foreign influence networks aimed at employing Israelis with violence at the center of their goal.
The organization responded to the Shin Bet’s discovery, saying: “We have been warning for a long time the online ‘borders’ have been breached. These latest reports prove that the ‘fences’ have been breached on the internet for a long time, and that the enemies have settled among us.”
The group also said that the state is “not doing enough to protect the public within virtual borders.” The organization also called for a national plan for online safety that would allow Israeli citizens to report issues of online attacks, along the lines of how in-person attacks are reported.
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