Your hot date could be terrorists' bait

Looking for love online Your blind date might turn out to be bait from terror groups The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad ATS has discovered a new trick that IS and other terror outfits are using to lure youngsters into their fold mdash dating and chatting apps The cops have found at least nine such apps with conveniently high encryption levels that are being used as honeytraps to radicalise and recruit young menThe ATS warned that they have found a growing trend of young men being catfished by terrorist recruiters posing as girls on apps like Tinder We have noticed this in dating apps like Tinder where young boys search for women They look at the girls pictures and send them requests to chat The recruiters use pictures of beautiful girls to attract the attention of these boys said an ATS officerIS handlers create many accounts posing as women of various ages to appeal to a wider range of men Once they zero in on a target the IS cyber experts try to get as much information on the person through his social media accounts and then use this to lure him The same trick has been used by terror groups based in Pakistan to recruit youngsters from Kashmir said sourcesThe ATS has found terrorist recruiters catfishing youngsters on nine dating and chatting apps Representation PicGetty ImagesState ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni said We urge youngsters not to chat with strangers or at least be careful Terror recruiters have been found to be active on dating apps where youngsters often chat with strangers and are vulnerable to getting honeytrapped In the past IS had used Facebook and Twitter as well to radicalise youngsters in Maharashtrawhen it comes to private chatting and dating apps the ATS has found terrorist activity on Tinder Signal Chat Secure Red Phone Silent Circle Telegram Wickr Threema and Surespot While these nine have come on the radar of ATS so far sources said recruiters are likely using many other apps to get in touch with youngstersBeat them at their own gameThe ATSs cyber team is keeping an eye on all dating sites and apps as well as social media sites scanning for vulnerable youngsters who may be brainwashed An officer said Earlier on Facebook or Twitter anybody could check citizens post to analyse what their ideology or behaviour but dating and chatting apps are encrypted and no one can see the identity of the users or their conversations without permissionSources revealed that the investigating agency has taken a leaf out of the recruiters book and created a few dummy accounts on such sites and apps When they find any suspicious activity they try to engage with the user Once they get confirmation of radicalisation they try to reach out to the person and deradicalise themVulnerable youthAs per a senior ATS officer the handlers try to exploit youngsters who are either unemployed or going through some crisis If these boys and girls are shown the right path and helped to stand on their own feet they readily cooperate and also help to spread the word in their community said copsOften when word gets out about their interaction with terror outfits these youths and their kin are ostracised by society and employers The ATS has helped several such victims by enrolling them at Rural Self Employment Training Institutes RSETIs So far the Maharashtra ATS has helped 300 victims to get a fresh start in this manner ATS chief Kulkarni said We enroll these youngsters and their relatives in the RSETI programme and we have got positive response from them The ATS has also helped 26 people who were radicalised through the promise of loans These victims are now in the process of starting their own businesses 30 others have started their own ventures using bank loansApps theyve tappedTinder Signal Chat Secure Red Phone Silent Circle Telegram Wickr Threema and SurespotCase studyIn 2016 the ATS found a young salesman in the Marathwada region who was going through a major life crisis He was in the middle of a land dispute with his relative who tried to register a false complaint of kidnapping against him Unable to focus on work the youth ended up losing his job IS recruiters zeroed in on him and radicalised him within three to four months They offered him a better job opportunity with good pay They provoked him by asking what the Indian government had done for him Maharashtra ATS found out about the youth through the cyber cell After provising counselling the ATS enrolled him for a mobile repair training programme He has since launched his own mobile repair shopAlso Read Missing Mulund student Family flips but no clean chit from police or ATS Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates