Tinderbox: Russian spies using dating app Tinder to target German politicians for intel on Ukraine war

New Delhi: Russian spies are using Tinder to target German politicians and soldiers in order to gather information about the Ukraine war, reported German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The report states that the Russian spies are specifically searching for politicians and Bundeswehr personnel on the dating app in an effort to “recruit them as sources of information.” This is according to the MAD, also known as the Military Counterintelligence Service, of Germany. As confirmed by MAD to Welt am Sonntag, “members of other intelligence services (e.g. Russia) use social media to specifically establish contacts with members of the Bundeswehr” in an effort to gather information and perhaps even recruit them. According to Welt am Sonntag, the details were discussed at a gathering of NATO representatives in Germany. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Germany has been one of Kyiv’s main allies, and thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been trained there. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany, there are now as many Russian spies in Germany as there were during the Cold War, according to a report by Welt am Sonntag. Prior to now, other governments around the world have issued warnings about the potential use of dating apps like Tinder by spies and foreign intelligence agencies to locate sources and gather data. A representative of the US Department of Justice issued a warning in 2020 that information that users enter into dating apps may be accessed by foreign intelligence agencies. Notably, Tinder users have the option to pay for a feature that enables international communication. Tinder is already being used by Russia to gather information about its own citizens. In 2019, Russia ordered Tinder to hand over user data to the country’s intelligence service. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.