3 Chechen women who scammed ISIS fighters out of money could serve hard time

One of the Chechen women charged with fraud.

(Image credit: Twitter.com/DazedMagazine)

published 30 July 2015

ISIS fighters looking for love were instead taught a lesson in catfishing by three women in Chechnya.

The women have been arrested on charges of fraud after tricking the fighters into sending them money for plane tickets they never planned to purchase, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. One woman said she was contacted on social media by a militant in Syria, who asked her to come join him as a "jihadi bride." She said she didn't have enough money to get there, so he sent her 10,000 rubles ($167). Instead of buying a one-way ticket, she blocked him, kept the money, and moved onto two other targets (adding 35,000 rubles, or $585, to her coffers).

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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