Three young Chechen women are being held in Russia after allegedly posing as wannabe jihadi brides to con Islamic State (IS) out of thousands of dollars, according to reports.
The Russian current affairs site Life News claims the three women contacted IS militants in Syria and Iraq through social networks. As each targeted terrorist began to fall for the ruse, the girl would send him photographs, it says.
Maryam, one of the women, apparently explained how she tricked one target. "He began to lure me, saying: 'Do you want to come to Syria, [it is] very good.' I told him that I had no money," she is quoted as saying. The man is said to have duly wired her 10,000 rubles (£105).
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As soon as she received the funds, she deleted the social network profile and created a fresh one to target another jihadi, says Life News. The three women received more than $3,100 (£1,990) between them, before Chechen police apprehended them, reports Vice. They face a fine or up to six years in prison if convicted of fraud.
Maryam allegedly told Life News that she did consider actually traveling to Islamic State territory, but said accounts from friends who had made the journey suggested women were mistreated there.
Police say this is the first time they have encountered such a scam. "I don't recall any precedent like this one in Chechnya, probably because nobody digs deep enough in that direction," Valery Zolotaryov told the Moskovskii Komsomolets website. "Anyhow, I don't advise anyone to communicate with dangerous criminals, especially for grabbing quick money."
Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for the Clarion Project, told Fox News: "It could be argued that this shows that the Islamic State is confident in its ability to secretly transfer funds, but the more simple and realistic explanation is that Islamic State men are still men and our judgment can be undermined by attraction."
