Russian spies are using Tinder to target German politicians and soldiers in order to get intelligence related to the war in Ukraine, according to German counterintelligence.
German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported that Russian agents are specifically looking on the dating app for politicians and members of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, to try to “recruit them as sources of information.”
This is according to Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service, known by the acronym MAD.
MAD confirmed to Welt am Sonntag that “members of other intelligence services (e.g. Russia) use social media to specifically establish contacts with members of the Bundeswehr” to try to get information and maybe even recruit them.
It also confirmed that Tinder is one of the social media platforms used.
The information was shared at a meeting of NATO representatives in Germany, Welt am Sonntag reported.
Germany has been one of Ukraine’s biggest allies since Russia invaded in February 2022, and thousands of Ukrainian troops have been trained in the country.
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution said Russian spy levels in Germany are now at the same level as they were during the Cold War, Welt am Sonntag reported.
Other governments have previously warned that spies and foreign intelligence bodies could be using dating apps like Tinder to find sources and gather information.
The head of Australia’s national security agency warned in February 2022 that foreign spies seemed to be using dating apps, including Tinder, to try to get information from citizens who have access to sensitive intelligence.
He did not name any specific countries involved.
And an official at the US Department of Justice warned in 2020 that data people put on their dating apps could be used by foreign intelligence services.
Russia already uses Tinder to collect data about its own citizens. In 2019, Russia ordered Tinder to hand over users’ data to the country’s intelligence service.
But the dating app has also been used by others in relation to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Tinder users can pay for a feature that allows them to talk to people in other countries. Some have used it to try to show people in Russia what the invasion has been like, in the face of tightly controlled Russian state media./
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