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TOURISTS in Russia have been told to avoid meeting up on dating apps due to “honey-trap” scams by Putin’s spies.
The German foreign ministry has sent out a chilling warning to people on dating apps to “be careful” after recent “very worrying” spy leaks by Russia.
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Germany has accused Russia of using the sneaky honey-traps on those looking for love online and trying to steal their information.
The ministry sent out a chilling warning to tourists saying: “Be careful on Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and co.
“There can be bad motives hidden behind new contacts.
“Russia is not the best destination at the moment for a first date with your online flirt.”
What is a honey-trap?
A HONEY-TRAP is a form of espionage used by secret agents to obtain information from another person through a ‘romantic relationship’.
They often involve a spy getting close to a target by overtly flirting so the victim is trusting enough to reveal their secrets.
Or they coerce and blackmail the target into revealing private information through intimate or private acts between the two.
Cambridge dictionary defines it as “the use of an attractive person to try to get information from someone.”
Honey-trapping can also be used by thieves where they arrange to meet up with a person online with promises of a first date or intimacy before robbing them at an arranged meet up point.
It comes as German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported last year that Russian spies are using Tinder to target German politicians and soldiers.
They said that German counterintelligence was on high alert over scams trying to recruit Germans “as sources of information” related to the Ukraine war.
The counterintelligence team reportedly confirmed to Welt am Sonntag that “members of other intelligence services (e.g. Russia) use social media to specifically establish contacts”.
Dating scams have also been rumoured as a way to recruit more spies on the inside.
The information was shared at a meeting of NATO representatives in Germany, said the newspaper.
Australia and the US has also voiced concerns over how countries could be using dating apps for political gains.
Russia attempts to illegitimately influence politics, the economy and society on a number of levels
Konstantin von Notz
Tinder users have already been warned they run the risk of being blackmailed by Putin’s hackers if they post sensitive information on the app.
Spy chiefs at the National Cyber Security Centre said “attackers could use the data for a variety of malicious purposes”.
Konstantin von Notz, chairman of the German parliamentary control board, a committee involved in intelligence services, said Russia are trying to “illegitimately influence” many parts of Germany.
He said: “Russia has not just been spying massively on Germany for years. Germany is at the centre of a Russian influence operation.
“Russia attempts to illegitimately influence politics, the economy and society on a number of levels.”
GERMANY’S SPY PROBLEM
The grave concerns over intelligence leaks come after Germany fumbled important information into the hands of Russian spies.
In Germany’s biggest spy scandal in decades, the head of the Luftwaffe, Ingo Gerhartz, told officers Britain is delivering Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
But he revealed British troops were “on the ground” — a highly confidential move that Russia said shows Nato is “preparing for war”.
The Kremlin intercepted the 38-minute call, conducted on an off-the-shelf video chat platform, which was then broadcast across Russian state television.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the leak was “very serious” and that a probe was now under way over it.
Downing Street insisted the incident was “a matter for Germany”, which remained “a very close Nato ally”.
But former chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, insisted the leak was “worrying on a number of levels”.
Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert from the University of Buckingham, also told The Sun that “heads should roll” for Germany’s “appalling breach of Nato security”.
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