Young women 'catfished' ISIS out of $3,300. Will they be punished?
Three young women from Chechnya have taken 鈥渃atfishing鈥� to the next level with an unlikely target: the Islamic State.聽
The girls, who prefer to remain unnamed, allegedly contacted recruiters from the terrorist organization online through fake social media accounts and pretended to have an interest in becoming brides to members of the group.聽
Like many of the hundreds of Chechen women who have been seduced by militants online, they told the men that the only thing stopping them from moving to Syria was a lack of money. Once they had been sent cash for travel expenses, the girls deleted their accounts and started the scam all over again with different recruiters.聽
It鈥檚 unknown precisely how many recruiters the women communicated with, but by the time a Chechen police E unit specializing in monitoring online activities caught wind of the scheme, they had swindled roughly $3,300 out of the terrorist organization.聽
One of the girls told Russian tabloid that she was tempted at one point to accept the militants鈥� offer to travel to Syria, but ultimately decided against it. 聽
"Many people I know did go, but I know no one for whom it turned out well," she said.
The women have been lauded as heroes by Internet supporters around the world for outsmarting the Islamic State, with many declaring that the scammers should be rewarded for their actions.聽
鈥淭hose girls definitely deserve recognition!鈥� , John Davis, on the Russian state-funded聽RT website.聽
鈥淕ive them a medal,鈥� adds another commenter, Elias Kagan.聽
But a scam is a scam, and instead of being rewarded, the girls are currently under investigation for fraud. If convicted, they face fines and up to six months in jail, the 谤别辫辞谤迟蝉.听
Police spokesman Valery Zolotaryov told a local newspaper, , that the situation was a first for the department, creating a legal gray area.
"I don't recall any precedent like this one in Chechnya, probably because nobody digs deep enough in that direction," Mr. Zolotaryov said.
There is speculation as to whether or not law enforcement will move forward with the charges, considering the victims of the scam. According to a report by , a spokesman for the police department said it鈥檚 possible officials won鈥檛 take any further action.聽
鈥淭here needs to be a complaint from the other side and it doesn't seem as though this is going to be likely,鈥� the spokesman is reported to have said.聽
The three Chechen girls apparently aren鈥檛 the first to swindle the terrorist organization out of cash. , several men have also been known to pose as women online to dupe ISIS recruiters.
Such schemes may seem like an easy way to make some extra money, but officials warn that the risks outweigh the possible benefits.聽
鈥淚 don't advise anyone to communicate with dangerous criminals, especially for grabbing quick money,鈥� Zolotaryov said.聽
