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Chechen women swindle ISIS via social media: 'We need roubles to join you xx'

Con-artist activities unlikely to temper Islamist misogyny

Chechen rozzers have reportedly arrested a trio of jihadi-baiting women who flirted with ISIS fighters online before conning them out of money they sent to pay for a non-existent rendezvous in Syria.

Terrorists pledging allegiance to the self-declared caliphate – almost as contentious in name as deed – have made a concerted effort to recruit Muslims to their cause over social media.

Now some cheeky girls have managed to con the jihadis, cheating them out of travel fees for trips they never intended to make, according to Russian media reports.

The three women allegedly managed to pocket a total of around $3,300 from the recruiters before their operation was terminated by a specialist police unit.

Posing as coquettes for the caliphate, the Chechen women reportedly complained to recruiters that they'd have been in their jihadi arms already if it weren't for a dearth of travel money.

Ever the pragmatists, ISIS accountants sanctioned the payments to the girls via anonymous electronic transfers, only to find those social media accounts being quickly deleted after the money was received.

"I don’t recall any precedent like this one in Chechnya, probably because nobody digs deep enough in that direction," Valery Zolotaryov of the Chechen Police's specialist E-unit told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

"Anyhow, I don’t advise anyone to communicate with dangerous criminals, especially for grabbing quick money," he added.

It is not the first time trolls from Russia (or thereabouts, in the case of Chechnyans) have bothered the self-declared caliphate. A "cybercaliphate" hack of TV5Monde, which purported to be committed by ISIS, was eventually attributed to Russian hacking crew APT28. ®

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